Compliance with EU Directives to Promote Demand for Water Treatment Chemicals
With the accession of eight states from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE-8) to the European Union (EU), new growth opportunities await suppliers of water treatment chemicals. The CEE-8 - comprising Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - are expected to spur demand for coagulants and flocculants as they align their national legislation with the EU directives for drinking water and urban wastewater.
According to growth consultants Frost & Sullivan this increase in demand is expected to drive revenues in the market for coagulants and flocculants from EUR 62.1 million in 2004 to EUR 129 million in 2011 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of eleven per cent.
While improving water quality and wastewater infrastructure is a priority for end users in the industrial and municipal segments, budget constraints are hindering the purchase of high-value water treatment chemicals. In such cases, affordability is a key purchase criterion for customers and is also a differentiating factor for the suppliers.
Frost & Sullivan Chemicals Research Analyst Evelyne Turmes explains, "Unless an effective executive framework for enforcement of the EU regulations is set up, industrial plants are likely to keep investments in nonessential water treatments to a minimum."
Financial aid is a step towards creating and maintaining demand for water coagulants and flocculants in the CEE region. In fact, municipalities are dependent on external funding, loans and private investments to meet the EU directives for drinking water and urban wastewater.
Monetary support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Redevelopment (EBRD), the World Bank and numerous other EU funding programmes is likely to provide the financial backing for modernising water treatment plants and implementing the stringent EU regulations regarding water quality.
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