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Abstract |
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Urethane coatings have been one of the fastest-growing sectors of the worldwide paint and coatings industry. Despite relatively high cost, their excellent durability, resistance to corrosion and abrasion, pleasing optical properties and flexibility make urethane coatings suitable for a range of high-performance applications. Urethanes are also finding greater appeal in recent years because of the ability to formulate coatings with lower organic solvent contents. From 1994 through 2006, global consumption of urethane coatings for industrial use grew by about 3.5% per year on average, while consumption of all resins for coatings grew by about 2.3% per year. Consumption of urethane coatings will likely be in the 3.5–4.0% per year range, while the total coatings market will grow at about 1.5–2.0% annually.
Global 2006 consumption of urethane coatings for the industrial market accounted for about 13% of the total industrial coatings volume but 18% of the total sales value at the manufacturer’s level. Most production and consumption of urethane coatings (roughly 80%) is in the United States, Western Europe and Japan, although growth in the future should be higher in Asia.
The following pie chart shows world consumption of urethane surface coatings:
Certain markets are dominant in the major industrialized regions, including automotive refinishes, wood finishes and high-performance anticorrosion coatings. The fastest-growing market for urethanes in the 1990s was automotive OEM clear-coat finishes, but penetration has slowed in recent years. Urethane clear coats now account for 25% of the topcoat market in Europe and 10–12% in North America. In Japan, only small amounts of urethane formulations are now used for topcoats. In addition to the high cost of urethanes, environmental and regulatory pressures in Japan have not forced a switch away from the conventional solventborne low-solids acrylics in clear-coat applications. Also, in Europe, wood product finishing is much more important than in the United States; urethane powder coatings are more significant in the United States.
In the rest-of-the-world category, one of the major uses for polyurethane coatings is for textile coatings. The total size of this market is estimated at about 80 thousand metric tons of coating per year, with about half consumed in East Asia. Consumption of urethane coatings is expected to grow at a rapid pace in China because of the rising demand for automotive refinishes and industrial, plastic and anticorrosion coatings. |
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