The Paints and Coatings Industry in the Philippines

The Philippines is primarily considered a newly industrialized country, which has an economy in transition from one based on agriculture to one based more on manufacturing and services.

Though hitherto catered by domestic paints and coating producers, the country is witnessing a transition to higher value-added products and multinational paint producers.

Dive Deeper: Sign Up To Be An Industry Insider

Comprised of more than two dozen paint and coating producers, the Philippines paint and coating industry has registered a steady growth of more than six percent per annum in each of the previous five years.

The majority of these 25 producers have production plants based in and around Metro Manila and nearby provinces, as most of the construction and industrial activities in the country is centered in this region.

Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines, Inc., Davies, Charter Chemical and Coating Corp., United Paints, Inc., Asian Coatings Philippines, Inc., Nippon Paints and Jotun Philippines are the major paint and coating producers in the country.

Century Chemical Corp., FH Colors and Coatings, Globesco, Inc., H-Chem Industries, Inc., Mayon Industrial Corp., Roosevelt Chemical Industries, Inc., Super Globe, Inc., Sycwin Coating and Wires, Inc., Times Paint Corp. and Treasure Island Industrial Corporation belong to the medium-scale paints and coating producers in the country. 

With a population of more than 108 million at the end of 2018, the Philippines is one of the fastest-growing economies of the South East Asia region.

Paint and coating producers have reaped rich dividends of steady economic growth of recent years. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 6.2 percent in 2018, the slowest in three years, as high prices of basic commodities coupled with slower agriculture expansion tempered growth.

However, the World Bank  projects the GDP to grow 6.5 percent this year and by 6.6 percent in 2020 and 2021.

With a median age of 23 years and a very high degree of urbanization, the Philippines is expected to remain a very attractive market for domestic and multinational paint companies operating in the country for a number of years to come. 

Comprised of 7,200 islands, the Philippines can be geographically divided into three major divisions according to the concentration of paints and coating producers.

Luzon is the largest and northernmost grouping – home to the capital city Manila and most of the paint and coating production facilities.

Visayas in the central region has the booming city of Cebu, which is the next target area of country’s paint and coating producers. Mindanao, located in the Southwest is the Philippines agricultural hub. The region lacks many paint and coating production facilities. 

The Philippines paint and coating industry also has a number of weaknesses. The country has a prohibitive cost structure related to logistics, energy and raw materials, which are not available domestically.

The Philippines’ paint producers have low capacity utilization rates as compared to their counterparts in other nearby countries.
The country’s paint industry also suffers from low investment in technology upgrades.
 

 

Pacific Paint  (Boysen) Philippines

Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines is the largest paint and coating producer in the Philippines by a wide margin.

The company claims to have nearly 60 percent of the domestic market share (based on volume).

Founded in 1953 as a repacker of paint and lacquer thinners under the trade name Columbus, Pacific Paint (Boysen), the company produces architectural, industrial and marine coatings for the domestic market.

The company ventured into paint production in 1958. 

In 1960, Pacific Paint acquired the license to manufacture Boysen Paints in the Philippines from California-based company Walter N. Boysen. 

Over the next decade, Pacific Paint was able to capture the lion’s share of premium quality paint market in the Philippines – outselling all leading U.S. brand paints that also operated production facilities in the country. 

In 2000, Pacific Paint commissioned a fully integrated manufacturing facility just outside Metro Manila. This manufacturing plant is considered the biggest and most modern paint production facility in the country.

Pacific Paint has emerged as the largest paint and coating producer in the country over the years.

In 2017, the company recorded sales revenue of USD $280 million.

Jotun Phillipines Inc.

Jotun Inc. commenced commercial production at its plant in Batangas province in late 2017.

Located in the industrial area of Sto. Tomas, Batangas, the seven-hectare plant has an installed capacity to produce five million liters of paint per year to supply coating requirements for marine, protective and decorative segments.

In the Philippines, Jotun started through an agent in 1987 then became a branch office of Singapore operation in 2004.

Jotun Philippines Inc. became fully operational in 2011 with offices in Sucat, Paranaque and in Mandaue, Cebu.

In 2013, it made a decision to invest in a local production plant. Construction of the plant started in early 2016 and commercial production commenced in November 2017. 

“It’s high time for Jotun to open its own factory since it has been operating here for more than 30 years,” Jotun’s Chairman of the Board Odd Gleditsch D.Y. said during the production facility’s inaugurations. “The Philippines market is important for us because we see good growth prospects in the future especially with the steady increase of investments in business areas where Jotun is relevant such as infrastructure and energy.”

Nippon Paints Philippines Inc. 

Nippon Paints Philippines Inc. was established in 1976 in Manila.

With growing paint demands in the 1990s, the company set up a bigger plant in Cabuyao, Laguna, South of Manila in 1996 with an installed capacity of 30,000 TPA.

Cabuyao plant produces industrial paints for automotive, appliances, coils, motorcycles and other related industries.
The company also produces auto refinishes and varnishes.