Africa LNG Spurs Coatings Growth

The discovery and ongoing monetization of new natural gas reserves in Africa  has created demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure, which require specialized protection coatings to cushion them against corrosion, unfavorable temperatures and changing environmental conditions.

Mozambique and Tanzania have become the latest entrants in an LNG production league hitherto dominated by Nigeria, Angola, Ghana and Algeria where contracts worth billions of dollars have been awarded or are in the pipeline for new liquefaction plants, gas pipelines, LNG terminals and floating liquefied natural gas vessels. These projects are some of the drivers of growth of Africa’s coatings market in coming months.

Some international coatings companies have already secured contracts for the supply of various coating solutions to protect the anticipated or existing LNG infrastructure.

Tanzania and Mozambique, with a combined natural gas reserve of more than 140 trillion cubic feet (tcf), are in the race competing for a share of the global LNG export market against the U.S., which targets to export an estimated 70tcf to Asia by 2020 and also Ru