Waste water leads membrane charge

Growth in the global membrane chemical market to 2020, will be led by the wastewater sector according to market analyst Future Market Insights (FMI). And desalination was expected to witness the highest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.4% in the global membrane chemicals market between 2014 and 2020.

Growth will be fired by demand for process water among end-users such as the municipal, power, food and beverage, desalination, paper and pulp, chemicals, pharmaceutical sectors. will be offset by patent and regulatory hurdles according to market analyst Future Market Insights (FMI).

In its report, Membrane Treatment Chemicals; Wastewater Treatment to gain traction – Global Market Assessment and Forecast to 2020 FMI forecast the US$ 1,013.8 million in 2013 global membrane chemical market a considerable CAGR of 8.1% during the forecast period.

This will be further fuelled by dynamic growth in industrial output in emerging economies coupled with increased focus on wastewater recycling. This will accelerate the demand for membrane chemicals.

Geographically, the global membrane chemical market covers North America, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Latin America. Among these, FMI forecasts that North America will witness a surge in the global membrane chemicals due to rising demands from end-use industries such as power, desalination, municipal, and chemicals.

Strong coal reserves in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region offered healthy market scope for membrane chemicals in the power sector FMI said. Therefore, APAC was expected to surpass North America in terms of value and volume share by 2020, with a CAGR of 10.1% between 2014 and 2020.

However, Middle East and Eastern Europe were anticipated to display a vigorous demand for membrane chemicals in the near future.

The global membrane chemicals market is segmented into scale inhibitors, coagulants and flocculants, biocides, pH adjusters, and dechlorinants. Among aforesaid segments, the scale inhibitor segment dominates the global membrane chemicals market and is projected to continue its dominance in terms of value during forecast period. 

Moreover, biocides segment is expected to double the revenue by 2020, registering robust CAGR of 12.2% between 2014 and 2020.

Key players in the global membrane chemicals market were BWA Water Additives, Lenntech, Genesys International, Kemira, and Nalco Holding Company.