Based on many market and expert survey, the future key trends in the Paints & Coatings Industry can be summarized as following:

 

Bio-based: According to European Coating’s report, Bio-based coating market is in its infancy with EUR 7 billion in 2018, equivalent 5% of global paints & coatings market share, but has a full potential to growth. The main reason is that the paints and coatings industry is seeking solutions to reduce environmental footprint by developing new products with the use of renewable raw materials for the purpose of producing bio-based solvents, resins, additives and pigments, etc.

 

Low-VOC: The strong smell that paint normally emits is from evaporation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and several studies found off gassing of VOCs can last months. VOC emissions pollute air quality and can affect the health and comfort of painters and occupants during that period. Exposure can cause a variety of symptoms including headaches and respiratory distress. However, new paint technologies have created paints that have low to zero VOCs, and therefore reduced odor, allowing occupants to be less disturbed by paint fumes. Many governments have been officially set limits for VOCs in paints, for example European VOC Regulations.

 

Water-borne: The demand for environment-friendly water-borne coatings is rising. According to Markets and Markets’ report, the global market for water-borne coatings should grow of nearly 6% annually from 2017 and by 2022 reach a value of EUR 82.7 billion. Although there are still various applications in which solvent-borne coatings perform better, water-borne coating systems are continuing to make successful inroads and the quality and robustness of water-borne coatings is improving due to use eco-friendly raw materials. Starting from acrylic latex paints for use as architectural coatings, new products have been developed to expand water-borne systems for many other different coating applications, such as automotive, marine, wood, packaging, wood and, furniture, plastic, and printing inks.

 

Nanocoatings: According to Future Market’s Nanocoatings Report 2020, the global market for nanocoatings should grow of more than 10 % annually from 2020 and by 2025 reach a value of USD 9.2 billion. The incorporation of nanomaterials into thin films, coatings and surfaces leads to new functionalities, completely innovative characteristics and the possibility to achieve multi-functional coatings and smart coatings. The use of nanomaterials also results in performance enhancements in flame retardant, weather resistant, wear, corrosion-wear, fatigue and corrosion resistant coatings. Nanocoatings demonstrate significant enhancement in outdoor durability and vastly improved hardness and flexibility compared to traditional coatings.

 

Ease of application: According to CoatingsTech’s Supplier Perspective Survey on Key Trends in the Paints and Coatings Industry, nearly all respondents said their companies introduced products targeting convenience/ease of use in 2019 and will be launching more new products in 2020. These materials are designed to make coatings ready to use, easier to apply, and offer labor savings for end users or increase production efficiency by being easy to incorporate during coating manufacture. They also enable coatings to provide good hiding with fewer coats and cure more rapidly for faster return-to-service after application. Some respondents indicated that convenience is achieved if ingredients are globally available or supported by a regional supply chain and if they comply with regulations, have a low environmental impact, and enable coating formulations that require minimal surface preparation.