According to a new and updated technical market research report, The Market for Nonwoven Filter Materials, from BCC RESEARCH (www.bccresearch.com), the North American market for nonwoven filter media was worth $588 million in 2005 and will be $617 million by the end of 2006. In 2007 this figure will grow to approximately $639 million and at an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 4.4% will reach $792 million by 2012.
   
The market is broken down into several different manufactured categories, including airlaid, wetlaid, spunbonded, meltblown, and apertured film. Of these sectors, spunbonded material maintains more than 30% of the market throughout the forecast period—the highest of share of the market. Meltblown material will be worth $181 million in 2007 and will grow at an AAGR of 4.9% to $230 million in 2012. Meltblown material has the highest growth rate of the material types and will hold 29% of the market share by 2012.
   
After decades of fast growth, the nonwoven filter media industry is beginning to slow down. However, increasing consumer awareness of nonwoven products and the effect of water and air quality on long-term health are prompting new technological trends in the filtration industry. It still remains an important industry for critical filtration processes in several application sectors such as water filtration, HVAC, manufacturing and food processing.