Basic situation of non-woven filter material market
Nowadays, people are paying more and more attention to fresh air, energy conservation and environmental protection, and the cleanliness of drinking water, among which filter materials play a very important role. Gas or liquid filtration, filter bags or filters, melt blown or wet non-woven fabrics, carbon fiber or glass fiber, manufacturers choose whichever one is very correct because the filter material has a wide range of applications and various non-woven fabric production methods can be used. The selection of raw materials is not limited, making it a safe product that consumers are willing to spend money on, earning good profits, and promoting the technological innovation development of the filter material industry. In addition, the use of fine fibers, nanotechnology, and electret fibers has become a competitive direction for the filtration industry, thereby expanding the application range of non-woven fabrics.
Mr. Angelika, Global Business Development Manager of Hollingsworth&Vose Company in the United States, said, “Green environmental protection and global sustainable development have led to the development and use of energy-saving products, directly or indirectly prompting people to seek solutions for filter materials in clean, more energy-efficient, and long-life industries.” Data provided by the Non woven Fabric Industry Association INDA shows that even during economic crises, the non-woven filter material market continues to grow, with continuous growth in air filtration, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning filtration. Sales in liquid filtration, drinking water, beverages, and even blood filtration markets are also increasing.
The specific reasons for continuous growth
The main reason is that consumers are more concerned about drinking water quality and clean air than they are about the economic crisis, indicating that there is no recession in the filter material market. Even in the most difficult times, consumers will purchase filter materials, but will choose to extend the time to replace filter materials to get through the difficulties. Precision Custom Coating (PCC) has just entered the filter material market in recent years, focusing on the development of industrial filter materials. Due to its technical expertise in the industrial and fabric coating fields, the company has focused on developing pleated filters with screens, mainly targeting the industrial, commercial, and retail markets. Mr. David, the Sales Manager of the company, said, “It took PCC 18 months to enter the filter media market, and the entire process was quite difficult. However, the final product was recognized by the market, indicating that our product is equivalent to similar products in terms of performance and even surpasses others in the market. The key is not only the company’s ability, but also whether it can maintain long-term stability in product quality. We have successfully achieved this. DuPont is also expanding in the filter media market. Nomex KD is a unique non-woven filter material composed of Nomex and Kevlar fibers, used in high-temperature filtration fields such as asphalt production and cement clinker coolers.”
Ms. Cathy, Manager of the Public Relations Business Unit of the company, said, “DuPont has a dedicated R&D team working together with enterprises under different operating conditions to develop high-temperature filtration materials, providing them with high-performance and qualified materials to protect personal and environmental safety.” Speaking of the development of DuPont’s filtration business, Ms. Cathy added, “The company has made special filtration a key focus of research and development, leveraging DuPont’s successful development experience in multiple technical fields and unique functional materials to provide high value-added protection for humans and the environment they rely on for survival.” Facing the world, as Asia is vigorously constructing infrastructure, the demand for filters is also increasing. Therefore, non-woven fabric manufacturers have set their goals. Targeting the filtering market and continuously increasing capital and expanding.
In the past year, H&V, Ahlstrom, Freudenberg, and Andrew UK have all invested in the East to meet the needs of existing customers while expanding into new markets. H&V has been engaged in the filtration industry for many years, constantly seeking opportunities to expand its global business. In recent years, H&V has made a series of investments, including the construction of a new production line in Suzhou, China (H&V’s factory in Suzhou was founded in 2008), a new joint venture company in India, increasing production capacity of fiberglass in the UK, and a new melt blown line in Europe. These investments not only localized most of the company’s products, but also expanded the variety of products that can be produced.
Business development of some leading non-woven fabric companies
In June this year, H&V will jointly establish a joint venture with India’s Nath Group to produce filter materials for engines and some filters for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning to meet the local demand for high-quality filter products in India. At the same time, the company has also launched a new filter paper production line in Asia, with products mainly used in the fields of engines and industrial filtration. Oslon has already extended its reach into the Asian filtration market, and in recent months its focus has shifted. The company has sold its dust filtration production line located in Wuxi, China to Andrew Company as part of its global withdrawal plan, but Oslon still retains its business at its Binzhou factory. In September 2010, as an important strategy for entering Asia, the company acquired Shandong Prifult Paper Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Prick Group, further enhancing Oslon’s leading position in the global filtration business. Ms. Noora, a spokesperson for the company, said, “So far, the business of the Oslon Binzhou factory has made good progress. The company’s layout in the Asian region will provide better services to global customers with branches in the local area. We can also expand our market share in Asia and lay a solid foundation for future development in the Asian region.” At the same time, Andrew Company is also rapidly expanding, and China Felt is the general term for the company’s filtration business in China. Although many companies have joined the filtration industry in recent years, resulting in fierce market competition, Andro’s filtration business still maintains an annual growth rate of 10-15%. In addition to dust filtration, the company hopes to enter the liquid filtration market through its production line in Wuxi. At the same time, the company plans to add several needle punching production lines to its Wuxi factory to expand its production capacity in China. In addition, the company is building a factory in India. Although the original intention of building the factory was not to produce non-woven fabrics, it will develop into coil distribution and product production, and ultimately increase the production capacity of needle punched non-woven fabrics. Improving quality is not only about expanding geographically, but also about constantly developing new products, which is the key to success for most filter material manufacturers.
Lydall Performance Material in the United States is adept at developing and developing new products based on market demand, especially in the fields of power plants, commercial and industrial filtration, thus maintaining a sustained growth trend in sales. Arioso is an air filtration composite material developed by the company using microporous membranes as the substrate. It is used in high-efficiency flue gas filters to remove small dust in the flue gas, as well as smoke generated during laser/plasma cutting and welding processes. Filters with Arioso are designed specifically to remove extremely small particles, thereby maintaining the cleanliness of the air in harsh working environments. The company has been persistently innovating in technology. Since the launch of its unique microporous structure NanoWeb, the company has been striving to improve product quality and produce filter media with smaller fiber fineness and narrower fiber diameter distribution range.
Ms. Mayman said, “Existing filtration products need to have better performance to complement self-cleaning filter cartridges, while also improving their ability to adsorb dust, especially for minor particles such as cigarette ash.” Other new products developed by the company include hydraulic and fuel filtration media – Inviscant, which is used to adjust and improve the performance of fuel and hydraulic equipment. Capaceon is an efficient filter material with the same weight but significantly increased dust capacity, allowing manufacturers to optimize filters and reduce the use of filter materials in small filters. Compared with its prototype Technostat (an electret filter material), Technostat Plus produces lower pressure drop during filtration and is now widely used in face masks, medical filter materials, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning filtration. In addition, the company is actively selling fuel, lubricating oil, and air filtration materials, which are the main components of engine filters and fully meet the emission and fuel saving standards and specifications. Ms. Mayman continued, “Many of our products involve a wide range of technical fields, and the company has long been collaborating with downstream customers to develop filter materials that adapt to poor fuel quality, biofuels, smaller filters, strict emission requirements, and energy saving regulatory requirements, in response to increasingly fierce global challenges.”
Oslon has added new production capacity in Louveira, Brazil to further consolidate its global leading position in transportation filtration materials. In addition, the company continues to expand its demand for filtration materials in water filtration, gas turbines, high-efficiency air filtration, and life sciences. Mr. Blasi explained, “Our research and product development goals are targeted at the market. As market demands for filtration materials continue to change, we are looking for updated and better products to provide customers with better technological solutions.” As fiber diameters become smaller, filtration efficiency will also increase, so applying nanotechnology to filtration materials has become a development trend. Another development hotspot is the use of activated carbon in the field of water filtration, which is the unique technical key of Oslon Disruptor products. This high-performance wet filtration medium is comparable to UF and MF membranes in terms of interception and filtration efficiency, and can reduce or even eliminate various pollutants in water, such as viruses, bacteria, chlorine, iodine, iron, lead, tin, copper, and membrane like substances. It can be widely used as a filter material in beverage production, pharmaceutical water, inlet and usage points. Many experts believe that many products that have not yet formed a sales climate in other markets have become necessary in the filtering market.
Cerex Advanced Fabrics in the United States has developed nylon spunbond thin mesh as the support layer for filter materials. Mr. John Hancock, Vice President of Sales, said, “The driving force behind the development of the filtration market is the chemical industry, as the use of various additives can cause damage to filters. Therefore, we are working hard to develop long-life products that can have a longer service life even at high temperatures. At the same time, the company is also striving to develop and produce diversified products to provide customers with more choices in order to win in the fierce market competition.”
Mr. Reamon from PCC, an American company, said, “The filter material market is now more inclined towards order based sales, and companies are more eager to stand out in fierce market competition than before, because most of the products produced are ordinary and difficult to compete with competitors. Therefore, the key to winning is how to provide products to downstream customers and how to do well in after-sales service.” Although PCC has already gained a certain share in the air filtration market, the company has long planned to enter the liquid filtration market. Mr. Reamon continued, “We will continue to search for the company’s advantageous products, not only for fierce competition, but also to seek the ultimate needs of customers and strive for it.”
According to a survey conducted by the BCC Research Institute in the United States, the non-woven filter material market will continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7% over the next five years, from $2.5 billion in 2010 to $3.5 billion in 2015. The Asia Pacific region will become the largest market, with the fastest CAGR, reaching a growth rate of 9.5% in 2015, from $923 million (approximately 37% market share) in 2010 to $1.5 billion in 2015. For some filter media and separation and filtration markets, the European and North American markets are relatively mature and competitive. The CAGR in Europe is 5.2% in the next five years, while the North American market is slightly better, with a CAGR of 5.4% in the next five years. From BCC’s survey data, it can be seen that the overall situation of non-woven filter materials in production technology, commercial applications, and the global market is significant. The non-woven fabrics used in the filter materials include airflow forming, wet non-woven fabrics, spunbond, melt blown, and perforated membranes. Due to the ultimate use of non-woven filter materials for pollution control and liquid filtration, strict quality control is crucial. Some key filtration processes include water filtration, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning filtration, as well as food processing. With the increasing awareness of food safety, water quality cleanliness, and air quality among consumers, as well as the comprehensive impact on personal safety, it will promote the continuous advancement of filter material production technology.
conclusion
In short, if manufacturers plan to survive and develop in the fierce market competition, they must timely understand the development dynamics of the filter material market, and adjust raw material procurement and production models in a timely manner. Similarly, shareholders of the company must also be aware of the impact of market changes on the overall business situation of the company. Users of filter materials should pay attention to changes in upstream filter material materials in a timely manner and make effective choices in order to produce high-quality filters at low cost and high quality.
今年六月份，H&V将与印度Nath集团共同组建合资公司，生产发动机用过滤材料以及一些采暖通风与空调用滤材，以满足印度当地对高质量过滤产品的需求。同时，公司在亚洲也新上一条滤纸生产线，产品主要应用于发动机和工业过滤领域。 奥斯龙早已将触角伸进亚洲过滤市场，近几个月来其工作重心发生了转移，公司将位于中国无锡的粉尘过滤生产线出售给安德鲁公司，作为全球撤离该项业务计划的一部分，但奥斯龙仍然保留了其滨州工厂的业务。2010年9月作为进军亚洲的重要战略，公司收购了普瑞克集团旗下的山东普瑞富尔特纸业有限公司，进一步增强了奥斯龙在全球过滤业务的领先地位。公司发言人Noora女士说：“至目前为止，奥斯龙滨州工厂的业务进展良好，公司在亚洲地区的布局将为在当地设有分支机构的全球客户提供更好的服务，我们也可以借此扩大在亚洲的市场份额，并为未来在亚洲地区的发展打下良好基础。” 与此同时，安德鲁公司也在迅速扩张，China Felt是公司在中国过滤业务的统称，虽然近年来很多公司加入过滤行业，致使市场竞争非常激烈，但安德鲁过滤业务每年仍然保持10～15%的递增速率。除粉尘过滤外，公司希望借助无锡的生产线涉足液体过滤市场，同时，公司打算在无锡工厂增加几条针刺生产线，以扩充其在中国的产能。此外，公司在印度正在兴建一家工厂，虽然建厂的初衷并不是生产无纺布，但将发展成卷材经销和制品生产，并最终增加针刺无纺布的生产能力。 提升品质 除了在地理区域上的扩张外，不断进行新产品开发是多数滤材生产商取得成功的法宝。
Post time: Apr-19-2024