by Arnold Wang
China Correspondent
UV curable coatings (UV coatings) have ntered fast development in recent years in China. Several reasons contribute to the fast growth of UV coatings. One
major reason is the hube pressure from society
for improving the environmental situation in
China. This has facilitated the growth of UV
coatings because UV coatings release almost
no VOC into the environment. UV coatings are
listed as an environment friendly coatings variety whose development is encouraged by the
Chinese coatings industry.
It is estimated that China right now has
approximately 50 UV coatings manufacturers
and a total annual output of 120 thousand-160
thousand tons of UV coatings. And approxi-
mately 44 percent of the UV coatings produced
in China were used to paint wood products, in-
cluding wood furniture, wood floors and wood
doors. In the wood products segment, UV coat-
ings were first adopted in the manufacturing of
wood floor products, and later on UV coatings
were introduced to paint wood furniture.
Plastic products are the second largest
market segment for UV coatings, which can
be found on automotive components, mobile
phones, electronic appliances and computers,
etc. UV coatings or inks can also be seen on
paper, porcelain, metal, glass, etc. But compared
with plastics and wood segments, the other segments only hold small percentages in the total
volume of UV coatings applications.
The challenges for promoting UV coatings
comes from the high unit price of UV coatings
compared with traditional PU and PE coatings
and extra investments needed for the construction of UV coating production lines. And the
UV coatings companies are aware of these
It is estimated that
China currently
has 50 UV coating
manufacturers
and a total annual
output of 102-160
thousand tons of
UV coatings.
Future Growth Foreseen for UV Coatings in China
