Increasing demand for water borne coatings
The water-borne coatings market is an interesting and growing technology segment of the global coatings market. Water-borne coatings find their way into a diverse set of end-use segments. Given the increased interest in sustainability, it is likely that there will be continued development in water-borne coatings and that the market will continue to grow in the years to come. A market overview by Douglas Bohn, Orr & Boss Consulting Incorporated.
The total market for water-borne coatings globally is estimated to be EUR 67 billion and 24 billion liters. This represents 51 % of the value and 57 % of the volume of the global coatings market. However, most of the market for water-borne coatings is in the decorative coatings segment where over 90 % of the market globally is water-borne. Within the non-decorative coatings segment, the total water-borne coatings market is estimated to be EUR 8.5 billion and 2.2 billion liters. This represents about 10 % of the value and 13 % of the volume of the non-decorative coatings market.
Segments and Chemistries
The water-borne coatings find themselves in various segments of the market. As noted above, decorative coatings are the primary segment of the water-borne coatings market. It comprises about 86 % of the value of the entire water-borne coatings market. Decorative water-borne coatings are mostly acrylic and vinyl-based resins.
In the non-decorative coatings segment, the above chemistries are used as are polyurethane dispersions (PUDs) which are finding growing applicability in the coatings market. Within the non-decorative coatings market, general industrial (GI), wood, and automotive are the largest segments of the market.
Going forward, we do expect water-borne to grow slightly faster than the coatings market as a whole. As regulations tighten, there will be more and more conversion to water-borne. The regulations relate to the VOC content of the coatings that can be used. Also in the industrial area, permits for the amount of VOCs that an industrial customer can emit at their factory are getting tighter. This is forcing some customers to convert to water-borne products.
A more detailed version of this analysis of the water-borne coatings market can be found in European Coatings Journal 10/2021. The issue is available digitally at our online library 360°.
