East Africa is experiencing a new modern railway construction boom – and with it an expanding rail coatings market for the protection and decoration of metallic railway equipment and infrastructure.

Although the development of high-speed standard gauge railway (SGR) projects has been going on across Africa, the East African region has made huge strides in investing in the modern railway network as the demand for more environmentally friendly, cheaper and efficient passenger and freight transportation surges.

With a large share of the locomotives, passenger carriages, wagons and bogies imported into East Africa, the region is supporting the growth of rail coatings in other countries especially China, where many of the contractors in the construction of new railway lines and upgrading existing ones come from and also due to lack of local capacity to manufacture the railway industry equipment.

This rapid expansion of the railway network in East Africa is pushing up demand for rail coatings that serve to prevent corrosion or abrasive wear of rail equipment and products and also provide resistance to UV radiation and withstand chemicals used in cleaning processes.

There have been simultaneous development of new SGR (1,435 mm gauge) alongside the repairing and upgrading of the old 1,009 mm meter or narrow gauge network in Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda.

Ethiopia, in partnership with Djibouti, completed the 756 km Ethiopia-Djibouti electrified railway modernization project under a contract by China Railway Group and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation with financing from Exim Bank of China.

The $3.5 billion railway line with 21 stations is one of the new railway transportation investments in Eastern Africa that provide opportunities for consumption of more rail coatings not only in the construction of the stations but also by the company that manufactured the 41 locomotives and nearly 1,130 coaches and wagons. China’s CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co. was picked to supply three passengers and 32 freight electric locomotives for the new line.

Kenya also recently completed 729km of SGR line linking the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa to the inland town of Naivasha, one of the biggest railway infrastructure projects in East Africa that have expanded further the region’s rail coatings market.

The $5.3 billion project, done in two phases by Chinese contractor China Road and Bridge Corporation, also entailed the supply of several rail coated locomotives, wagons and coaches. Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC), which operates the country’s railway network, previously placed an order for more than 50 locomotives from the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation.

The Chinese company also, in another previous contract, shipped customized 120 container flat wagons to Kenya, the first time for China to deliver freight wagon to the East African country.

Additional rail coatings consumption is expected in Kenya when an additional two phases of the SGR line from Naivasha to Kisumu and also Kisumu to Malaba are completed at an estimated cost of $5.4 billion.

In  Tanzania, the country’s railway operator, Tanzania Railways Corporation, is constructing a 1,800 km of SGR line from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza creating further opportunity for the supply of rail coatings. The line will be extended in the future to Rwanda and Burundi.

Tanzania is nearly completing the first phase of 300 km under a contract by Turkey’s Yepi Merkezi and Portugal’s Mota Engil at an estimated $1.2 billion. Rail coatings suppliers from the two countries are expected to benefit from the contract since some of the rail equipment especially the rolling stock is likely to be supplied from both European Union countries.

However, coatings for the six railway stations in this phase are likely to be supplied by Tanzania’s companies although no confirmation yet as to which firms have been picked as preferred suppliers of the protective and decorative coatings for the stations at Ruvu, Ngerengere, Dar es Salaam, Pugu, Soga and Morogoro.

Recently, the government of Tanzania announced the awarding of a $1.3 billion contract to two Chinese contractors for the construction of the 341 km Makutupora to Isaka stretch of the new SGR line. Although the section is the last of the five SGR project phases, Tanzania announced China Civil Engineering Construction and China Railway Construction Company as preferred bidders for the project that further pushes up demand for rail coatings in the East African country.

But in what may increase demand for more railway equipment and products that require weatherproof coatings such as steel, cast iron, aluminum and non-ferrous metals, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are rehabilitating their existing meter gauge networks.

Tanzania, which has a total of 3,676 km of railway lines operated by two railway systems, Tanzania Railways Corporation and Tanzania – Zambia Railways (TAZARA), is implementing the Tanzania Intermodal and Rail Development Project, with the support of World Bank, another avenue for the supply of functional and aesthetic rail coatings.

The $300 million project is part of an effort by the government to address the poor conditions of tracks and aging rolling stock and locomotives in a bid to increase the tonnage freight volumes and passenger numbers. The project entails the improvement of rail infrastructure, acquisition of additional rolling stock and the development of railway termini at Isaka and Ilala.

At least 308 km of rails have been re-laid or in the process of being re-laid with 80 lb. rails, while at least 144 weak bridges of below 15-ton axle load capacity are being repaired or reconstructed with local coatings suppliers expected to reap from this railway line refurbishment undertaking.

A similar initiative is underway in Uganda where the country’s railway operator, Uganda Railways Corporation is upgrading part of its developed rail network covering 1,250 km. The revamping of the railway line would fast-track development and spur trade within Uganda and with neighbors. The EU is financing the rehabilitation of this project involving 504.5 km of the existing meter gauge railway line between Tororo-Pakwach. The $24.9 million project includes laying the section with steel sleepers, a good coating consuming product.

Kenya is revamping sections of its meter-gauge railway network of 2,778 km to boost the freight performance and increase capacity to transport exports and imports that account for about 35 percent of the long haul freight traffic handled at the port of Mombasa, East Africa’s largest gateway.

Since most of the locomotives, passenger carriages, wagons, bogies and undercarriages are imported into East Africa, the region does not only provide a ready market for solvent- and waterborne anti-graffiti and clear coatings but also increase demand for diverse resins including acrylic, epoxy, fluoropolymers, plastisols, polyester and polyurethanes especially by companies in countries where the rail equipment is manufactured before being shipped to East Africa.

Maintenance of the rail equipment and products is expected to have the largest share of the rail coatings market in East Africa as railway operators would after some time invest in the refurbishment of external surfaces of both the passenger and freight cars and also interior parts of the rolling stock such as the panels, doors and window frames.

Like in other global markets, rail coatings consumption trends in East Africa would most likely be determined by the environmental concerns particularly the VOCs from the coatings, the performance of the applied coatings, the productivity of the railway industry and general operational costs by the region’s railway operators.