Water Treatment Chemicals – Status & Trends in China

By Zhang Dingding, China National Chemical Information Centre

Water treatment chemicals can be divided into conventional water treatment chemicals and specialty water treatment chemicals. The sales volume of specialty water treatment chemicals in China reached US$1.26 billion in 2010 and will reach US$1.70 billion in 2015. Growth of specialty water treatment chemicals is expected to be around 6.1% during 2010-2015. Table 1 shows the consumption of water treatment chemicals in China.
The water treatment market in China is extremely brisk. With the sustained growth of the economy in China in the late 1990s, the need for industrial water treatment grew rapidly.
There are four main categories of participants in the water treatment sector here: foreign companies, wholly-owned domestic enterprises, private enterprises and government departments. In 2005, water treatment products (including commodities) produced by domestic enterprises held a 53% market share, and foreign products (including products of foreign-funded enterprises based in China) held a 47% share. Multinationals have continually increased investment in China in recent years. The share held by foreign products already exceeded 50% in 2010. Foreign enterprises also have advantages in specialty products with high value. The number of domestic enterprises is also growing fast. Jiangsu has the greatest number of large water treatment product enterprises.

(1) Ion exchange resin

The consumption of ion exchange resins in China was around 95 kt in 2010. The average annual growth of consumption will be around 7% in next five years. The growth will mainly be in anionic exchange resins.
Strong acid type cationic exchange resins hold the biggest market share and account for 65% of the total ion exchange resin output. The market share of weak acid type cationic exchange resins and anionic exchange resins has kept increasing in recent years. In the total output of ion exchange resins, weak acid type cationic exchange resins account for around 7% and anionic exchange resins account for around 18%.
Ion exchange resins are mainly used in industrial water treatment, accounting for over 60% of the total consumption. Treatment of boiler feed water is the major market for ion exchange resins. Consumption by municipal water treatment accounts for 38% of total, and the average annual growth is expected to be 7.0% during 2010-2015. The soft water treatment market has potential for growth.
Large ion exchange resin producers are mostly located in Jiangsu. Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hebei and Tianjin are favored locations of major ion exchange resin producers in China.

Table 1   Consumption of water treatment chemicals in China  (US$ million)

Category    2007    2010    2015
(E)    Average annual growth during 2010-2015 (%)
Ion exchange resin    131.56    198.5    278.4    7.0
Organic polymer flocculating agent and coagulating agent    166.14    222.8    332.4    8.3
Corrosion inhibitor    329.57    410.8    524.3    5.0
Scale inhibitor    230.70    287.4    377.4    5.6
Fungicide    36.62    73.2    95.7    5.5
De-foaming agent    25.63    31.8    41.6    5.5
Others    31.13    38.1    48.7    5.0
Total    951.35    1262.6    1698.5    6.1%

Table 2   Consumption of organic polymer flocculating agents

Category    2010    2015 (E)    Average annual growth
during 2010-2015 (%)
    Consumption
(kt)    Value
(US$ million)    Consumption
(kt)    Value
(US$ million)    
Nonionic and anionic PAM    39.8    117.6    54.5    161.1    6.5
Cationic PAM    14.6    64.7    25.7    114.0    12.0
Others    13.5    40.5    19.1    57.3    7.2
Total    67.9    222.8    99.3    332.4    7.9


(2) Organic polymer flocculating agent

The flocculating agents used most extensively in water treatment in China are polyacrylamide (PAM) series products. They are mainly classified into anionic, cationic, nonionic and amphoteric varieties. Anionic and nonionic PAM and PAM derivatives still dominate the water treatment sector. In addition to PAM series products, specialty flocculating agents used in water treatment in China include polyamines, quaternary ammonium salts and natural organic polymers.
The consumption of organic polymer flocculating agents in water treatment was 67.9 kt in 2010. Average annual growth of consumption is expected to be around 7.9% during 2010-2015. The cationic PAM market will see the most rapid growth in next five years.
Nonionic and anionic PAM series products are still the dominant flocculating agents in China. Organic polymers account for nearly 60% of the consumption of water treatment chemicals. The efficiency of PAM series products depends on the pH value of water. Nonionic and anionic PAM are the first choices for the flocculation of acidic water. Cationic PAM has good flocculating behavior in neutral and basic water. PAM is one of the water treatment chemicals with rapid market growth, especially in the treatment of municipal water (both drinking water and sewage).
Natural organic polymer flocculating agents such as carbohydrate derivatives, chitosan and its derivatives, and microbial formulations will be much in demand in the Chinese market. The main reasons are that they have low raw material and production costs, the raw materials are abundant in China, and they are more environment-friendly.

(3) Chemicals for treating cooling water and boiler water

Typical functions of customized water treatment chemicals include anticorrosion, deposit control, de-foaming and deoxidization. Customized water treatment chemicals in China are mainly used in treating cooling water and boiler water.
Recycled cooling water accounts for around 50% of the total water consumption in industry. Corrosion inhibitors, scale inhibitors, fungicides and de-foaming agents are all used in treating cooling water.
There are more than 500 000 boilers in China. The consumption of corrosion inhibitors, deoxidization agents, pH control agents and scale inhibitors in treating boiler water is therefore remarkable. Different industrial boilers need different treatment methods to treat different types of water. Low-pressure boilers need softening and de-alkalization of water. High-pressure boilers need complete desalination of water. Hydrazine hydrate is an important deoxidization agent in water treatment and especially in boiler water deoxidization. In China, 15% of the market’s hydrazine hydrate is used in water treatment – around 4.5 kt a year.
Producers of customized water treatment chemicals – corrosion inhibitors and fungicides in particular – will have huge opportunities in future. More and more mixed corrosion inhibitors will emerge in the market and replace single-component varieties. With the rapid development of the economy and the more extensive use of cooling water, boiler water and other types of industrial water, domestic demand for industrial water treatment chemicals will increase steadily.