Introduction: Many pilot monitoring cities cited “still in scientific research” as the reason for the lack of open monitoring results. However, the demand for new air monitoring equipment and procurement are spreading and expanding. Environmental monitoring equipment is a relatively silent industry. A new "Blue Ocean" is being formed at home.

In the dense fog of the capital city of Beijing, a report on the detection of PM2.5 concentrations was particularly “translucent”.

On the evening of December 4 (Sunday), the US embassy in China released the latest Beijing PM2.5 monitoring data on Twitter. The PM2.5 concentration monitored at 7:00 that evening was 522, and the air quality index (AQI) was 500. Health tips are "BeyondIndex".

Because this "beyond the scope of the pollutants" (the highest concentration of 500 previously announced), so that the beginning of a new week, many people have paid attention and hot discussion of the "burst" phenomenon. The data released by the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Agency showed that on December 4th, the weather in Beijing was moderately polluted, and on the 5th, it was mildly polluted. On Nov. 21, 2010, the PM2.5 monitoring data of the US embassy in China was once “destroyed” once. At that time, the embassy described it as “Crazybad” on Twitter.

On November 1st this year, China introduced the environmental protection industry standard of "Measuring and Gravimetric Method for Ambient Air PM10 and PM2.5" and began to regulate the measurement of PM2.5.

According to the reporter’s understanding, many pilot cities have been monitoring “on the ground of scientific research.” Temporary monitoring results have not yet been opened, but the demand for new air monitoring equipment and procurement are spreading and expanding. Environmental monitoring equipment is a relatively silent industry. At present, a new "Blue Ocean" is being formed in China.

According to a report, the two enterprises, Hebei Sanshou Environmental Protection (300137.SZ) and foreign-funded enterprise Thermo Fisher, accounted for approximately 60% of the market share in this business area.

First environmental protection: 30% market share

In the dispute over monitoring data between the American Embassy and Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, the public’s focus on PM2.5 has made the largest air monitoring equipment supplier in the country once again “green”.

On December 5th, Wang Shaojun, a securities affairs representative of the company, told this reporter: “PM2.5 is a new indicator, but it is part of our daily business for us as part of the monitoring of the ashes. Others include carbon monoxide, ozone, heavy metals and other fields."

PM2.5 mainly affects the respiratory system and the cardiovascular system and is one of the “culprits” causing haze. Irrespective of short-term or long-term exposure, it will have a negative impact on health.

Wang Shaojun told reporters that earlier air monitoring mostly used the “three-parameter” approach—PM10, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Later, it gradually added indicators and transitioned to a five-parameter or even seven-parameter new monitoring phase.

Xianhe Environmental Protection has developed the first set of “Continuous Automatic Monitoring System for Urban Air Quality” with independent intellectual property rights in China and then promoted it. In the first three quarters of 2011, the company realized operating income of 111 million yuan and net profit of 26.843 million yuan.

"The monitoring industry is relatively new and is a new market. With the implementation of this new standard, the scale of the market will naturally expand," Wang Shaojun told reporters. "The environmental protection industry has also been crossing the river by feeling the stones and becoming the current air. The largest domestic equipment supplier in the field of monitoring now accounts for almost 30% of the country's market share."

Thermo Fisher: Want to introduce the production line into China

The introduction of new Chinese standards and the upcoming coverage of ambient air quality monitoring networks in prefecture-level and above cities will naturally be seen in the eyes of foreign capital equipment giants. The monitoring equipment supplier Thermo Fisher became a pioneer in environmental protection, and China is currently the largest foreign supplier in the field of air monitoring equipment.

Zhou Xiaobin, commercial director of the company's environmental and process instrument division, said in an interview with this reporter that with the increase in new standards and the need for scientific research conducted in advance by many large and medium-sized cities in the past, many regions have already purchased Thermo Fisher PM2.5 monitoring products. “Although it is difficult to determine the size of the market, there are currently more than 2,000 environmental monitoring sites in the country. With the increase in the urbanization rate and the increase in urban population, it will be added in 2016, combined with media coverage of 300,000 yuan and above. The price of the instrument, this speculation is just a good market." Zhou Xiaobin said.

On December 5, Pan Yuhong, a researcher in the environmental protection industry of China Investment Advisors, pointed out to the reporter that taking the PM2.5 testing equipment as an example, the current non-domestic equipment market share should exceed 70%. The advantage of domestic suppliers lies in the price, and the advantage of foreign suppliers lies in quality. In equipment procurement, government procurement tends to favor domestic companies, while large-scale enterprise purchases rarely consider domestic companies.

Pan Yuhong told reporters that another major monitoring market is polluting enterprises. This part of the market is much larger than the demand for environmental quality monitoring equipment. Therefore, the demand for environmental monitoring market equipment caused by PM2.5 will be the first The government procurement is prominent, and the follow-up will gradually expand to the online monitoring system. The market for monitoring equipment will increase by more than 20%.

"Our other gas monitoring instruments are produced in China, and PM2.5 is still mainly imported. Now we have this plan and introduce it into the domestic market," Zhou Xiaobin told reporters.

Market scale of 30 billion/year

According to China Business Intelligence Network data, in 2010, the sales revenue of China's environmental monitoring instrument and meter manufacturing industry reached 9 billion yuan. In the first half of 2011, the sales volume was nearly 5 billion yuan, due to the seasonal sales of environmental monitoring equipment. The proportion of sales revenue is even heavier. It is expected that sales revenue of environmental monitoring equipment will reach around RMB 13 billion in 2011.

In the next five years, the growth rate of the environmental monitoring market is expected to be at least 30% or more. It is estimated that by 2015, the environmental monitoring market in China will exceed 30 billion yuan.

However, at present, apart from environmental protection and Thermo Fisher, there are only a dozen other domestic production companies that provide air quality inspection systems. It is not known how many local companies can share this feast.

Wang Shaojun also admitted to reporters: “In many parts of China, especially in the southern provinces and cities, many foreign products have been used. In the field of atmospheric monitoring, it is frankly stated that foreign technologies are more mature and many domestic manufacturers are at the agency stage.”

For foreign suppliers, having internationally recognized certification is also a manifestation of their competitive advantage. Zhou Xiaobin told reporters that Thermo Fisher's equipment, including PM2.5 monitoring equipment, has the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certification.

“This is the most recognized international certification, and domestic manufacturers are still hard to see on the EPA,” he said. “And we have unique patented technologies for the stability of continuous monitoring values, which can guarantee the long-term reliability of data. ."

Pan Yuhong also pointed out to reporters that despite the rapid increase in the penetration rate of domestic equipment, the industry still faces many problems, mainly due to the fact that the products are dominated by low-end products, with single function, high failure rate, and low added value, in terms of variety and quantity. It is far from meeting actual needs. There are also problems such as low monitoring frequency, large sampling error, and inaccurate monitoring data. The enterprises in the industry are mainly small and medium-sized enterprises, with low market concentration, limited scientific research capabilities and lack of upward momentum.