Polyurethane coating is produced from raw materials such as isocyanate and polyols. Isocyanate could be aliphatic compounds such as HDI, IPIDI, or H12MDI having the ability to withstand UV light, or it could be a less expensive aromatic compound such as TDI and MDI. Three types of polyols are used which include polyether, polyester, and Acrylic. PU coating is applied on surfaces where excellent chemical and physical resistance is necessary and which are subjected to high amount of wear and tear. PU coating offers resistance to impact, chemicals, water, and abrasion.
Additionally, PU coating offers hardness and adhesion and is applied on substrates such as metal, wood and plastic. Typical applications of PU coating include wood furniture, automobiles, aircraft, building floors, electrical goods, equipment & machinery and industrial structures. PU coating is formulated based on water, solvent and powder.
Asian Paints offers PU coating based on alkyd urethane with properties such as toughness, high durability and flexibility. Alkyd urethane-based PU coating is applied to wooden articles, furniture, doors, paneling, and exterior framework.
The market of PU coating showed growth in demand in all the regions during the period 2016-2018 followed by a contraction in 2020-2021 owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. The demand of PU coating is one of the fastest growing in the overall paint and coating industry owing its properties such as excellent durability, flexibility, corrosion and abrasion resistance, and optical properties. Globally Asia-Pacific dominated the market of PU coating in terms of demand in 2022.
The demand for PU coating is poised to grow significantly in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan and the Middle East and Africa in the forecast period in contradiction to mature markets such as North America, Western Europe, and Japan where the demand is projected to grow at a slower rate. The rising demand of environmentally compatible coatings for automotive, construction, furniture, and packaging industry is driving the market of PU coatings in the Asia-Pacific region. The market of PU coating is poised to grow at a rate of 2-3% annually during 2023-2032.
Based on types, the market of PU coating is segmented into water-borne, solvent-borne, high solids, powder and others. Water-born PU coating accounts for a significant share of PU coating market in 2022. Water-borne PU coating is formulated using water as the primary carrier or solvent and emits less amount of volatile organic compound as well as emit less odor making it more environmentally friendly than solvent-born PU coating. Water-borne coating is highly flexible and is commonly used in transportation, furniture, machinery, and protective metal coatings.
The demand for water-borne PU coating has grown rapidly in applications such as finishing wood, plastics, metals and textiles. Solvent-born PU coating releases volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere. Volatile organic compound (VOC) is a chemical that reacts with nitrous oxide under UV radiation and forms ground-level ozone contributing to global warming. VOC regulations are developed to control VOC emissions and to reduce the proportion of VOC in coating formulation. These regulations include the VOC Emission Standard for Architectural Coating, Emission Standard for Shipbuilding and Ship Repair.
Based on the end-use industry, the market of PU coating is bifurcated into automotive, wood & furniture, textile, industrial, construction, electrical & electronics, and others. Mainland China dominated the market of PU coating market and accounted for around 42% of the global PU coating market in 2022. The automotive segment was estimated to be the fastest-growing application of PU coating in the historical period in China. In the automotive industry, PU coating is used for automobile finishing coats to give a metallic effect. Additionally, PUR electrophoretic coating is used as automobile primer owing to its thickness, chip resistance, and smoothness. The proportion of PUR electrophoretic paint is increasing in Car primers in China. Automotives such as FAW Audi, Tianjin Xiali, and Chongquing Isuzu are some of the automotives that majorly uses PUR electrophoretic paint.
The wood & furniture segment is one of the significant end-use industries of PU coating as it increases the resistance of wooden surfaces towards scratches, spills, abrasion, rough usage, etc. PU coating is specially applied to wooden articles such as doors, and windows which are subjected to rough usage. Water-borne PU coating demand in wood & furniture applications is poised to grow in the forecast period owing to several disadvantages of solvent-borne PU coating as compared to water-borne coating which include, high emission of VOC, longer drying time, and emission of a strong odor and toxic fumes owing to the presence of high levels of VOC.
The growing demand for furniture owing to rising spending power and growing urbanization will drive the market of PU coating. The China International Furniture Fair estimated that Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest market share of global furniture consumption in 2021 which translated to 41% followed by Europe and North America at 28% and 24% respectively. Middle East and Africa and South America accounted for less than 5% of the global furniture demand.
Covestro finished construction of its new production facility in Shanghai, China in 2023. The new facility will be operational by 2024 and will produce water-borne polyurethane dispersion to cater to the growing demand in packaging, footwear, automotive, construction, and furniture industries in APAC.
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