The Powder Coatings Market

From small custom coaters to multi-national OEMs, those who use powder coatings are a diverse bunch with one thing in common: they are part of a market that has posted great numbers in recent years.

According to a new study on the powder coatings market released by Cleveland, OH-based Freedonia Group, demand for powder coatings in the U.S. is forecast to rise nearly eight percent per year through 2005 to reach 505 million pounds, valued at $1.6 billion. According to Frost & Sullivan, the European powder coatings market was estimated at $1.14 billion in 2000. Even though these markets are outpacing growth in many other coatings segments, there has been a downward trend of late. Europe's revenues in 2000 were down 4.5%. In the U.S., the 7.9% annual growth rate projected between now and 2005 is off from the 9.4% tallied between 1990 and 2000. By 2007, Frost & Sullivan predicts powder coatings sales in Europe will reach to $1.82 billion, driven by a compound annual growth rate of seven percent.

Yet even as growth rates-and economies-slow, coatings companies still see gold when it comes powder. It should come as no s