In 2005, the market for sewage sludge dewatering equipment showed a regionally varied development. In Europe, only a few new plants were built, and investments focused on replacements and capacity enlargements of existing plants. In North America, project activity remained at a satisfactory level. The main growth area was China, where the number of centrifuges sold by Andritz more than tripled compared to the previous year. Project activities in the dewatering of industrial sludge remained high, especially in the steel industry.

The demand for dewatering equipment for process applications remained at a high level for the key industries: chemicals, mining, minerals, and palm oil production. Due to the steadily increasing installed base, the demand for aftermarket products (spare part, rebuilds, and repairs) remained high. The investment level was high in most parts of the world.

The market for sewage sludge drying systems was very active, especially in the USA, but also in Europe. Increased environmental awareness and the EU landfill directive banning the disposal of sewage sludge were enforcing this development. With rising energy costs, industrial use of dried sludge as an alternative fuel source is getting more attractive. Since dried sludge has nearly the same energy content as lignite, it can be used as alternative fuel in coal-fired power plants or cement plants, thus reducing costs for fuel. In addition, new technological concepts combining dewatering, drying, and incineration of municipal sludge have been developed to minimize energy costs.

Project activity in the field of drying technologies for industrial applications for the petrochemical, minerals, mining and food processing industries was also very brisk, especially in China, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe, and also partly in the USA.