Historically, solvent-based coatings have maintained the largest share of protective and specialty coatings.  However, solvent-based coatings are projected to be surpassed by water-based coatings by 2020 as regulatory concerns continue to impact the protective and specialty market.  Solvents will continue to lose share to other formulations, with trends favoring the use of water-based, high-solids, and other coatings, which have lower or no VOC emissions.  These and other trends are presented in Protective & Specialty Coatings Market in the US, a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industry research firm.

Demand for water-based coatings in the protective and specialty segment is predicted to expand at an annual rate of 2.5 percent to 85 million gallons in 2020, supplanting solventborne coatings as the market leader.  The trend toward waterborne coatings in the automotive refinish market, which historically has widely used solventborne coatings in an array of applications, is of particular importance for this formulation.  End users of automotive refinishes have increasingly adopted waterborne coatings due to their improved color matching capabilities and faster drying times than their solvent-based counterparts.

Water-based coatings are also gaining a foothold in protective marine coatings as several worldwide treaties and US regulations have put stringent limits on harmful emissions produced by marine coatings.  Waterborne coatings provide good adhesion to the market’s primary substrate — metal — and offer solid resistance to weather, chemicals, and other harsh conditions in which all varieties of watercraft are exposed.