Asia/Pacific Coatings Market
August 2014 www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 33
The Asia Pacific region is perhaps one of the most diverse areas on our planet. Not only is it comprised of numer- ous dissimilar countries but the myriad of cultures, language, religion and politics is mind boggling. There is also the
sheer size of the region. The Asia Pacific region, as defined in
this article, is an immense region, covering some 2.8 billion hectares of land area, or approximately 22 percent of the total global
land area. Stretching from the borders of China-Mongolia with
the NIS to the north to the southern tip of Australia and New
Zealand to the south, this region covers the spectrum of conditions from northern temperate and boreal through the range
of tropical and subtropical zones and back to temperate. From
the high plateaus and mountains of Pakistan to the west and
extending to the island countries of North Asia and the South
Pacific, the Asia Pacific region incorporates conditions of moist
tropical to arid and semi-arid desert. As would be expected by
this huge geography, the human and social dimensions of the
Asia Pacific region are equally diverse.
It’s fairly safe to assume that the Asia Pacific region presents
an enormous challenge to the coating industry since this is a
region where “one size” definitely doesn’t fit all. Depending on
the segment, performance requirements by country differ significantly as does how the coating is actually applied. In the
Southern part of the region (i.e. Australia/New Zealand) the
architectural market demands a gloss coating. In addition, in
the ANZ market there is a strong DIY (Do It Yourself) market
whereas in most other countries in the region it’s a contractor
applied market.
The Asia Pacific region is home to about 62 percent of the
total global population (i.e., approximately 4. 4 billion). China
and India account for more than half of this regions total population. India is projected to pass China in population size in
about 15 years, becoming the world’s most populous country
with about 1.5 billion people.
The region represents the single largest growth opportunity
for the coatings industry. In 2001 the region represented 27 percent of the global coating market compared to 33 percnt for the
Americas and 36 percent for Europe. In 2010 the region represented 40 percent of the coatings market while the Americas
share declined to 26 percent and Europe declined to 28 percent.
This trend is expected to continue. Depending on how you define the composition of the region, the total Asia Pacific region
coating market is estimated to be valued at over $62 billion with
an annual growth rate estimated at 12-15 percent.
The charts on this page describe the coating market in Asia
Pacific both by segment and by country.
Clearly, the largest revenue segment is architectural and
the largest revenue coating market resides inside of China. Of
course, as you might expect, actual segments vary in size and
revenue depending on the country. Paint consumption in China
in 2013 was three times that of 2003 and the Indian paint volume was about two and one-half times greater. Many of the
smaller coating consumers in the region have also undergone
significant growth. In contrast, coating consumption in Japan
has declined and the South Korean volume is about the same.
China accounts for 55 percent of the region’s consumption
in volume and 65 percent of the value. India is now the second-largest consumer in tons, with a 13 percent share, and is third
in value, with 6 percent. Japan is second in value, comprising
11 percent of the total, but is expected to be displaced by India
within the next two years. Korea is the fourth-largest consumer
in both volume and value. These four countries took 84 percent of the region’s tons and 85 percent of the value. Indonesia,
Thailand and Vietnam each consumes about 2-3 percent of
the regional volume and are considered expanding markets.
Australia, Taiwan and Singapore are mature outlets for coatings.
Nippon Paint (including Nipsea JVs), AkzoNobel, Kansai
Paint, PPG and Asian Paints are the five largest suppliers of coatings in the Asia-Pacific region, and together they capture 28 percent of the coating sales in 2013. AkzoNobel and Nippon Paint
are the leading architectural paint suppliers, with Asian Paints
third. Dulux (Australia), Kansai Paint, Valspar and Berger Paint
(India) are in the next tier of architectural paint suppliers. Kansai
Paint and Nippon Paint are the largest industrial paint suppliers,
each with about an 8 percent share. AkzoNobel and PPG are
next in size and are followed by Jotun and KCC (Korea).
The changes that are happening in this market somewhat
mirror the history of coatings in other parts of the globe. In
essentially all markets the water-based coatings are gaining significant market share (especially in the architectural segments).
In 2013 approximately 70 percent of the architectural market
was comprised of water-based coatings. Water-based growth
in the industrial segments has been slow but it is happening.
Today about 10 percent of the industrial segment is water-based
while 14 percent is powder. Clearly, solvent-based coatings are
