Recently, driven by policy guidance, market demand, and technological breakthroughs, the coatings industry has shown three significant trends: tightening environmental standards, the rise of functional products, and supply chain optimization. This has led to a further divergence in the development paths of leading companies and small and medium-sized enterprises.
1. Increasing policies are accelerating the penetration of environmentally friendly coatings.
- Many regions have issued revised "Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards," explicitly requiring that starting in 2024, VOC content limits for industrial coatings be reduced by 15%-20%, further raising the market entry threshold for solvent-based coatings.
- In response to these policies, mainstream companies are accelerating their transformation: companies such as Qingchen New Materials are expanding their waterborne and powder coating production capacity. Qingchen's waterborne industrial coatings production line added 5,000 tons of capacity this month, meeting the stringent environmental demands of sectors such as new energy vehicles and medical devices.
2. Functional coatings become a new growth point in the market
Consumer demand for "multifunctional integrated" coatings is increasing: In the home decoration sector, sales of wall paints that combine antibacterial, stain-resistant, and scrub-resistant properties increased by 35% year-on-year. In the industrial sector, the use of specialty coatings that are resistant to high temperatures (≥300°C) and corrosion-resistant has doubled in applications such as photovoltaics and marine engineering.
3. Supply chain competition intensifies, prompting companies to accelerate their localization efforts
4. Due to fluctuations in international crude oil prices, the prices of core raw materials such as solvents and resins have increased by 8%-12% this month. Some small and medium-sized enterprises have reduced production capacity due to cost pressures. Qingchen Enterprise is responding to these fluctuations through "local procurement + long-term price lock-in agreements." It has signed annual cooperation agreements with three domestic resin companies, ensuring a stable supply of raw materials while reducing costs by 10% compared to imported materials.
