The domestic air monitoring industry is in its infancy

With the continuous increase in the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution, the atmosphere monitoring market has been enthusiastic. The reporter learned from a number of domestic backbone enterprises in the atmospheric monitoring industry that the current domestic air monitoring industry is continuously strengthened with the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution, and the atmosphere monitoring market is being favored. The reporter learned from a number of domestic key companies in the atmospheric monitoring industry that the current domestic air monitoring industry is still in its infancy. It presents a situation in which technology is controlled by people and market competition is chaotic. The development of the industry needs to be effectively regulated. Industry insiders suggested that the state should strengthen its support for local leading enterprises from the aspects of scientific research, finance, and government procurement, and stimulate enterprises to carry out technological innovation and participate in international competition.

The market prospects of the atmosphere monitoring are promising. With the continuous strengthening of the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution, the requirement for strengthening the quality management of monitoring data and objectively reflecting the air quality is increasing. According to the “Ten Articles on Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution” and the “Ambient Air Quality Standards” promulgated and issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, by 2015, cities at or above the prefecture level will be built with monitoring points for fine particulate matter and national direct monitoring. Build county-level stations and rural stations. These monitoring stations will add monitoring equipment such as PM2.5, O3, and CO in batches according to the requirements of the “new standard” for air quality monitoring. Some agencies predict that the atmospheric monitoring equipment industry will usher in the procurement boom.

According to reports, at present, a domestically-made or imported PM2.5 instrument is priced between RMB 150,000 and RMB 400,000. Newly built atmospheric monitoring stations are equipped with complete sets of equipment, and the minimum cost is RMB 1.3 million. In the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, more than 1,500 PM2.5 monitoring sites will be added to the country. For example, each additional site is equipped with a complete set of air monitoring instruments. Based on this, the initial investment will exceed RMB 2 billion, including PM2. .5 The market for instrument sales will reach 300 million to 800 million yuan.

In addition to instrument investment, the renewal and maintenance of late-stage instruments will bring a continuously growing market space. According to public information, the average service life of a monitoring instrument ranges from 3 to 8 years. After the service life is reached, the whole machine needs to be discarded and re-purchased. This will bring about continuous growth in the sales market of related instruments.

According to the Nanjing Environmental Protection Bureau, a set of 6-parameter conventional monitoring factor costs about 150,000 yuan (including consumables, accessories, standard gas, communications, labor, etc.) for a year, and the lease fee varies from thousands of sites to specific conditions. From RMB to tens of thousands, the annual operating cost is about 15% of the instrument purchase price. Based on this calculation, 1,500 monitoring stations will be added to the 12th Five-Year Plan in China, and the annual operating and maintenance costs will exceed 200 million yuan.

The reporter learned from a number of air monitoring equipment backbone enterprises such as Xianhe Group, Concentration Technology that the current manufacturers are generally optimistic about the future market development. In 2013 alone, Hebei Xianhe Air Monitoring System sold more than 400 sets, and its cumulative sales of PM2.5 automatic monitors reached more than 500 sets. The company believes that the national policy provides a new space for the development of environmental monitoring equipment companies, in addition to conventional air monitoring stations, will also expand the new market development space for heavy metals, volatile organic compounds monitoring, source analysis services.

Multiple obstacles faced in the development of the industry The reporter learned from a number of key enterprises in the atmospheric monitoring industry in China that the current technology of China's air monitoring instrumentation industry is not mature enough because of its lack of technical funds, low research and development capabilities, low level of repetition, instrument types, and quality. Performance is difficult to compete with foreign companies, and the industry is facing multiple obstacles.

According to different monitoring principles, PM2.5 monitoring instruments can be further divided into spectrum method, shock balance method and beta ray method. At present, China's commonly used methods are the latter two methods. Taking the production of β-ray particle monitor as an example, domestic companies such as Xianhe Environmental Protection, Concentration Technology, Wuhan Yuhong, and Zhonghao Tyco are able to produce related products. However, currently domestically produced instruments cannot be continuously operated for 24 hours. reading. Taking the Oscillation Balance Particle Monitor as an example, at present, only Blueland Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. and Wuhan Yuhong Co., Ltd. are both producing in China, but the related products of the two companies are at the initial stage. In general, foreign instruments are relatively mature in terms of product R&D, production, sales, etc. compared with domestically produced similar products. After a long period of time, the products are relatively stable.

Li Yuguo, president of Hebei Xianhe Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd., said that most companies stay in the area of ​​technical imitation and have insufficient capacity for independent innovation. At present, the domestic PM2.5 monitoring equipment has obvious disadvantages in terms of market share, stability, and product advancement, and it has certain advantages only in terms of cost.

With domestic brands starting late and technologies being immature, foreign product purchases are still the mainstream of the market. According to Xianhe Environmental Protection, due to the early development and promotion of foreign environmental protection products, and the large scale of foreign companies, ranking top in the world, the awareness of the domestic environmental protection market is higher than the domestic brands of environmental protection products. Some of the economically developed regions still host high-priced imported equipment in the bidding and procurement projects organized by themselves.

Taking the Shanghai area as an example, the current PM2.5 monitoring instruments purchased by 10 city-level testing stations are all shock-balance meter monitors manufactured by Thermo Fisher Scientific. In fact, on the monitoring equipment and technology of PM2.5, foreign manufacturers always hold the right to speak in the market. Pan Yuhong, researcher of China Investment Advisor Environmental Protection Industry Research Group, said that the monitoring equipment and technology of domestic PM2.5 mainly depend on imports, and the market share of non-domestic PM2.5 monitoring equipment exceeds 70%, which may not be conducive to domestic enterprises participating in the competition.