The McIlvaine Company says that the total market is defined as bags plus systems and equipment is included as part of systems. The market for bags will increase by 20% in this period, while the market for equipment and systems will be quite erratic. The reason is the large swing in the market for fabric filters for coal-fired power plants. One large power plant could require the investment of over $100 million for a filter system. In some years, there are ten more new large plants forecasted than in the previous year or the subsequent year. So the equipment and systems markets will vary considerably from year to year.
According to McIlvaine, the growth in the Chinese fabric filter market will be significant, but it already is the leading purchaser. It will represent 29% of the total market in 2015 compared with only 18% of the total for the USA. The cement market in China will continue to be larger than the rest of the world combined. China has more power plants, but presently electrostatic precipitators are preferred over fabric filters for this application.
The one growth market in the U.SA is retrofitting cement plants to meet the new air toxic regulations. This could result in over 100 new fabric filter systems with an investment of over $0.5 billion, adds the report.
The Asian market generally will experience growth well above the rest of the world. The expansion of heavy industry in this region will be substantial. Foundries, steel mills, cement and chemical plants all require investment in fabric filters. In Europe biomass combustion is the biggest growth market.