Marine Coatings

The marine coatings market has shown some signs of recovering from the economic downturn of the last few years. As ship owners and builders begin to regain some confidence in the economy, shipbuilding and the repair and maintenance sectors have begun to slowly return to pre-recession levels.

“The global marine coatings market started recovering from the economic downturn during 2010 and we can expect continued improvement throughout 2011 and 2012,” said Steve Dickey, market director, global marine, Sherwin-Williams Protective and Marine Coatings. “The economic crisis impacted the maintenance and repair (M&R) sector significantly, but it is beginning to recover now. Sea stocks are also recovering. Global new builds are expected to decline from 2011-2013, but should recover by 2014.”

The market has been growing steadily in recent years, driven by strong activity in the shipping industry. “Shipping went through an unprecedented boom in 2006-2008, where vessel owners were making good returns and a record number of ships were ordered,” said Paul Westcott, commercial director, International Paint Marine and Protective