Overview of Paint & Coatings Industry in Pakistan

The second largest country in South Asia on the basis of population and geographic area, Pakistan is emerging as one of the key attractions for international paint and coating producers on account of its future potential. With a very low per current per capita consumption of paint and coatings in the country, most of the paint and coatings producers are optimistic about the medium- and long-term prospects of the industry. Coatings World presents an overview of Pakistani paints and coatings industry and major players.

Overview of Paint & Coatings Industry in Pakistan

The paint and coatings industry in Pakistan has registered a steady growth on the back of strong economic performance of the domestic economy in the last few years. With GDP growth at 5.3 percent for FY2017 (the highest in the past decade) with healthy growth in the construction sector, continued growth in the manufacturing sector, and healthy contribution by the services sector. For the first time, the size of the economy surpassed $300 billion.

Although there are no formal figures of the paint and coatings industry value and volume in the country,  most of the stakeholders put the Pakistani paints and coating industry worth PKR 37 billion ($306 million). The industry has been growing in the range of four to seven percent (on a value basis) for the past five years. In the last few years, there has been impressive growth in the construction industry in Pakistan, which has given opportunities to all players in the architectural segment.

Catered by about 20 organized sectors and about 110 unorganized sectors producers, the Pakistani paint industry has multinational paint producers such as AkzoNobel, Jotun, Kansai, Nippon and local companies Buxly, Brighto, Diamond, Happilac, Master and Nelson.  Pakistan’s paint and coating industry is expected to register steady growth rates in coming years on account of current low per capita consumption, rising disposable income, growing economy and decreasing repainting cycle.

Much like the other countries of South Asia region, the Pakistani paint and coating industry has a huge unorganized sector, which caters to the price-sensitive consumers in the country. On a value basis, the unorganized sector accounts for 34 percent of the total industry. There are about 110 small and very small paint producers in this segment. These producers cater to the vast market of semi-urban and rural areas, where prices are the most decisive factor in buying the paint brand. Organized sector producers often complain that these producers have lowered the quality bar in the paint industry.

The architectural segment accounts for about 81 percent of the total paint consumed in the country on a volume basis. New investments, especially China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) are expected to give a much-needed fillip to the Pakistani paint and coatings industry in coming years.

Despite the huge potential, the Pakistani automotive industry has not seen much development even after a number of initiatives by successive governments, thus depriving paint producers of growth in one of the major demand driving segments. Though after the government’s ambitious Automotive Policy of 2016 several global automotive producers such as Korean players including Kia, Hyundai and SsangYong Motor Company, Germany’s Volkswagen, French carmaker Renault and Japan’s Nissan have all announced that they would assemble vehicles in the country, these plans are still on paper.

AkzoNobel Pakistan

The largest paint and coatings producer in Pakistan, AkzoNobel traces its history in the country to 1944 when Khewra Soda Ash Company, the predecessor of ICI Pakistan Limited, set up a manufacturing facility in Khewra. In 1952, ICI was set up as a public limited company.

The company caters to decorative segment through its brands Dulux and Paintex, while in the performance coatings segment its brands  – Sikkens, DynaCoat, International, ICI Auto Paints – have a significant share of Pakistani coatings market.

Berger Paints

The second largest paint and coating producer in Pakistan, Berger Paints, operates two manufacturing facilities in Pakistan. Berger established its first local manufacturing facility in the port city of Karachi in 1955.  The company established its second manufacturing unit at Lahore in 2006. Berger also operates a resin manufacturing facility at its Lahore factory. The resin plant has enabled Berger to meet its entire resin needs for the manufacturing of a wide range of paints.

Berger has also entered into a number of technical collaboration arrangements with leading international paint and coatings producers in recent years. These include automotive, vehicle refinishes and industrial paint with a leading Japanese paint producer; PCS Powders, UK for powder coatings; DPI Sendirian Berhad, Malaysia for road and runway markings; Cerachem for construction chemicals and India’s Asian Paints for decorative paints.