Indonesian Paint and Coatings Industry

The world’s fourth largest populated country, Indonesia has been among the fastest growing paint and coatings markets in recent years on account of huge population, high urbanization and a rapidly rising middle class. Coatings World presents an overview of one of the most vibrant paint and coating market in Asia in this article.

Overview of Indonesian Paint & Coating Market

Indonesia is the largest paint and coating market in South East Asia on account of its large population of 261 million, higher urbanization rate (57 percent), a vibrant automotive industry and rising disposable incomes of the vast middle class.

Catered by four domestic, six multinational paint producers and a large number of small-scale domestic producers, the Indonesian paint and coating industry has registered more than six percent growth rates in each of the five successive years. Currently, the architectural segment is the main demand driver of the country’s paints and coatings industry. Accounting for 71 percent of the total market on a volume basis, most of the domestic producers have concentrated on this segment. The Indonesian government’s ambitious target of building 10.0 million new houses to provide adequate housing facilities to low-income citizens is also expected to create significant demand for paints and coatings in the coming years.

The automotive segment has seen steady growth in the Indonesian paint and coating industry. Barring 2015 when automotive production nosedived, automotive production in the country has been stable. Currently, Indonesia is the second largest automotive producer in the region, trailing behind Thailand.  Production of passenger vehicles forecast to reach approximately 2.2 million by 2022 resulting in growth for the automotive paint and coating producers. Recent investments in the automotive segment by major global automotive producers are expected to keep the automotive paints and coating demand quite steady in the coming years. 

Two wheelers, particularly motorcycles are a vital component of automotive paints demand. With a production of nearly six million motorcycles in 2017, the country is largest two-wheeler producer in the region.

Marine and protective coatings are expected to see a huge demand growth in the next few years in the country. The Indonesian market has huge potential for marine coatings. With a 54,720 kilometers long coastline, inclusive government policy and an opportunity to build a robust shipbuilding industry, this sub-segment is expected to see intense competition in coming years.

Raw materials by the major producers are being sourced domestically as well as through imports. Raw material providers are mainly multinational companies such as BASF and Dow Chemical. The weakening of Indonesian currency Rupiah against the U.S. dollar often results in reduced margin for paint producers, as a significant proportion of the raw materials are imported for paint and coating production.

The distribution of paint and coating products in Indonesia is primarily through retail and project sales. Retail sales also include point-of-sale (POS) tinting machines. Paint and coating manufacturers also sell directly to construction companies and project developers who are end-users of paints; whereas, under retail sales, distributors act as intermediaries, who distribute the paint and coating to retail stores that sell to consumers.

PT Propan Industrial Coating Chemicals

PT Propan Industrial Coating Chemicals (Propan Raya ICC)  is the largest paint producer in Indonesia.  The company operates three production facilities with an installed capacity of 200,000 tons per year of paints and coating products.

In September 2017, the company completed the construction of a water-based paint factory at Tangerang with an installed capacity of 100,000 tons per annum. The new plant is focused on the production of water-based or water-based synthetic paints, while the old two manufacturers produce water based and solvent based paints.

According to a statement by Propan Raya ICC’s President Director,  Hendra Adidarma, given to press at the inauguration of company’s manufacturing facility, “The plant is now completed with an installed capacity of 100,000 tons per year, so we have three factories with a capacity of 200,000 tons per year.  The new factory will operate using the latest technology, Rapid Production System (RPS)  from Germany. Ours is the first paint factory in Asia Pacific to use the technology.”

AkzoNobel Indonesia

AkzoNobel first started operating in Indonesia in 1971 and has grown to become one of the largest paints and coatings producers in the country. It operates three manufacturing sites across the country, covering decorative paints, marine, protective and automotive coatings.  Decorative paint is AkzoNobel’s is the biggest division with the popular Dulux brand, followed by marine.

PT Kansai Paint Indonesia

Established in 1999 in Indonesia as one of the subsidiaries of Japan’s Kansai Paint, PT Kansai Paint Indonesia supplies paint products as an OEM paint manufacturer to major automobile and motorcycle producers in the country.

New Investments in Indonesian Paint Industry

Thailand’s largest paint and coating producer, TOA Group is constructing a new plant in Indonesia. To be operated by PT TOA Coating Indonesia, the new plant will have an installed capacity of 7.7 million gallons per annum. Coming up about 50 kms away from Jakarta with an investment of 670 million Thai Baht, this plant is expected to commence commercial operations in May 2019.

In the second half of 2017, India’s largest paint and coatings producer, Asian Paints commenced operations of its new plant in Jawa Barat region in Indonesia. The plant has an installed capacity of 5,000 tons per annum on a single shift basis.

In 2016, AkzoNobel completed the €2.5 million expansion of its performance coatings plant in Cikarang. The investment increased the capacity at the facility by 40 percent. The enhanced capacity has enabled the Dutch producer to meet growing domestic demand – driven by the petrochemical and power sectors – for its marine and protective coatings products.