Five facts about wood coatings
Coating wood is a special challenge because it is a natural product and as such no two pieces of wood are alike. But the material is popular. It is beautiful and usually quite sustainable.
Even in storey construction, wooden houses are increasingly appearing in some markets such as Scandinavia and Germany. Reason enough to take a closer look at the market for wood coatings.
Size of the market for wood coatings
Worldwide, over eight billion euros are currently spent on wood varnishes, what corresponds to approximately 9 % of the global varnish market. The volume of wood varnishes worldwide amounts to about 1.25 million tonnes, which corresponds to 7% of the global volume of paints and varnishes.
The largest markets for wood coatings
As with most other coating technologies, the Asia-Pacific region plays the most important role in wood coatings. This is mainly thanks to China, as 60 % of the global volume of wood coatings are sold here. On second place follows EMEA and on third the Americas.
The most important coating technologies
One could think, that the natural material wood in particular actually requires particularly sustainable coatings. So far, however, classical solvent-based systems still dominate the market. Technologies such as powder and radiation curing, which are often praised, still have a niche existence on a global scale.
Wood coatings in construction
Wood is also an important material for buildings. A good 40% of the wood varnishes used in this area are used outdoors. Even almost 50% can be found in form of trim coatings.
Furniture industry largest consumer
By far the largest consumption of wood varnishes is found in the furniture industry.