The Marine Coating Market in Asia

The marine coating market in Asian countries has been dominated by established ship-building powerhouses such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and China. During the last 15 years, growth in the shipbuilding industry in India, Vietnam and the Philippines has provided significant opportunities for marine coatings manufacturers. Coatings World presents an overview of marine coating market in Asia in this feature.

Overview of Marine Coatings Market in the Asia Region

Estimated at USD$3,100 million at the end of 2023, the marine coating market has emerged as an important sub-segment of the overall paint and coating industry during the last one and a half decade.

Asia accounts for the bulk of global marine coating market due to the concentration of ship building industry in Japan, South Korea
and China. New ships account for 40-45% of the total marine coatings. Repairs and maintenance accounts for about 50-52% of the total marine coatings market, while pleasure boats/yachts make up 3-4% of the market.

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, Asia is the epicenter of global marine coating industry. Accounting for a majority of market share, the region houses established ship-building powerhouses and a number of new challengers.

The Far East region – including China, South Korea, Japan and Singapore – is a powerhouse territory in the marine coatings industry. These countries have robust shipbuilding industries and significant maritime trade, driving substantial demand for marine coatings. Demand for marine coatings in these countries is expected to register steady growth rate in the short and medium term.

In the last twelve months (July 2023- June 2024), sales of coatings for new ships rose substantially, on account of recovery in demand from China and South Korea. Sales of ship repair coatings grew substantially, partly due to increased needs for ships to reduce CO2 emissions, to comply with marine fuel regulations.

Asia’s dominance in shipbuilding and resultantly in marine coatings has taken decades to achieve. Japan became a global shipbuilding force in the 1960s, South Korea in the 1980s and China in the 1990s.

Now yards from Japan, South Korea and China are the largest players in each of the four major market segments: tankers, bulk carriers, container ships and offshore vessels such as floating production and storage platforms and LNG regasification vessels.
Traditionally, Japan and South Korea have offered superior technology and reliability compared to China. However, following significant investment in its ship building industry, China now produces better ships in more complex segments such as ultra-large container ships of 12,000-14,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEU).

Leading Marine Coating Producers

Marine coating market is pretty much consolidated, with leading players such as Chugoku Marine Paints, Jotun, AkzoNobel, PPG, Hempel, KCC, Kansai, Nippon Paint, and Sherwin-Williams accounting for more than 90% of the overall market share.

With total sales of 11,853 million NOK ($1.13 billion) in 2023 from its marine business, Jotun is among the largest global producer of marine coatings. Nearly 48% of the company’s marine coatings were sold in three major countries in Asia – Japan, South Korea and China – in 2023.

With global sales of €1,482 million sales from its marine coating business in 2023, AkzoNobel is one of the largest marine coating producers and suppliers.

AkzoNobel’s management remarked in its 2023 annual report, “The continued rebound of our marine coatings business was also notable on the back of a strong brand proposition, technical expertise and a focus on sustainability. Meanwhile, we re-established our presence in the new-build marine market in Asia, focusing on technical ships, where our high-performance Intersleek systems provide true differentiation. Intersleek is a biocide-free foul release solution which delivers fuel and emissions savings for owners and operators and helps to support the industry’s decarbonization ambitions.”

Chugkou Paints reported a total sales of 101,323 million yen ($710 million) from its marine coating products.

New Demand Driving Countries

Hitherto dominated by Japan, South Korea, and China, Asian marine coating market has been witnessing steady demand from a number of South East Asian countries and India. Some of these countries are expected to emerge as major ship building and repair centres in the medium and long term.

Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and India in particular are expected to play a key role in the growth of the marine coating industry in the coming years.

For example, Vietnam’s maritime industry has been declared a priority sector by the Vietnamese government and is on track to become one of the largest shipbuilding and ship repair hubs in Asia. The demand for marine coatings across both domestic and foreign shipping fleets that are dry-docked in Vietnam is projected to grow significantly over the next few years.

“We have expanded our footprint in Vietnam to include marine coatings,” said Ee Soon Hean, general director, Nippon Paint Vietnam, which set up a manufacturing base in Vietnam in 2023. “Continued growth in the maritime sector is resulting in the expansion of all the major shipbuilding and repair hubs in the country. There are six large yards in the north, the same in the south and two in central Vietnam. Our research indicates that there are approximately 4,000 vessels that will require coatings, including new-builds and existing tonnage.”

Regulatory and Environmental Factors to Boost Marine Coating Demand

Regulatory and environmental factors are expected to drive the demand and premiumization of the marine coating industry in the coming years.

According to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the maritime transportation industry is currently responsible for 3% of the world’s carbon emissions. To counter this, the industry is now being pushed by governments, international regulators, and the wider society to clean up its act.

IMO has introduced legislation that limits and reduces emissions to air and sea. Starting from January 2023, all vessels above 5,000 gross tons are rated according to the IMO’s Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII), which uses standardized methods to calculate ships’ emissions.

Hull coatings have emerged as a key focus area for shipping companies and ship manufacturers in reducing fuel costs and emissions. A clean hull minimizes resistance, eliminates speed loss and thereby preserves fuel and reduces emissions. Fuel costs typically represent between 50 and 60% of operational expense. IMO’s GloFouling Project reported in 2022 that owners could save as much as USD 6.5 million per ship on fuel costs over a five-year period by adopting proactive hull and propeller cleaning.