A profile of the Chinese paint industry

Citation

(2001), "A profile of the Chinese paint industry", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 30 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/prt.2001.12930faf.002

A profile of the Chinese paint industry

A profile of the Chinese paint industry

Keywords: IRL, China, Paint

Information Research Ltd (IRL) has recently published an updated edition of its report A Profile of the Chinese Paint Industry. IRL believes this market report to be the most up-to-date and invaluable source of information available on this increasingly important paint market.

The report follows the same basic format as the previous edition, which was issued by IRL in 1996, but fully updates the statistical data and includes new information and predictions. The growing importance of the Chinese paint market is such that the need for an in-depth study of the industry is considered to be essential.

The Chinese Paint market reached approximately 2.45 million tonnes in the year 2000 (see Table I), a significant increase of 27.5 percent over the previous year. Indigenous production of 2.34 million tonnes was supplemented by a small amount of imports, mainly coming from Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore. Paint consumption per capita was 1.92kg. This is just half of the world average and compares to over 17kg per capita in Japan.

The report reviews the Chinese paint market by end-use sector. The decorative sector remains dominant, with nearly 50 percent of the market. Some 75-80 percent of architectural paints are for interior use and these are mostly low-grade paints (see Table II).

Technology acquisition from overseas is a very important way of modernising and improving the Chinese paint industry, which has in the past suffered from over capacity and outdated equipment and management. There are two basic methods of importing the latest technology; by the direct involvement of foreign firms or by licensing. While several foreign paint companies have set up wholly owned subsidiaries in China, the preferred entry route is through the establishment of joint ventures. These exist for both coating raw-materials (predominantly resins and pigments) and finished paints and coatings. Multinational paint producers with joint ventures in China include ICI (together with Swire Pacific of Hong Kong), Akzo Nobel, Kansai Paint, Nippon Paint, BASF and Herberts (now DuPont Performance Coatings).

Foreign investment in China through joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries is encouraging production and sales of high technology systems such as waterborne coatings, powder coatings and radiation curable-coatings.

High grade synthetic resin paints now account for over 70 percent of the Chinese market, with low grade paints made from oil-based resins, natural resins, novolaks and bitumens accounting for the remaining 30 percent (see Table III).

These are only some of the main conclusions from the new IRL study. IRL informs us that the full report is now available to purchase at a price of US$3,325.

Further details are available from Information Research Limited (IRL). Tel: +44 (0) 20 8832 7830; Fax: +44 (0) 20 8566 4931; e-mail: katie.tofts@brg.co.uk; Web site: www.informationresearch.co.uk