Marine Anticorrosive Coatings Has Bright Market Prospect    

By Zhao Jun

Marine anticorrosive coatings belong to heavy anticorrosive coatings with very high requirements on quality. The protection duration is usually requested to be more than 10 years. The research and development of marine anticorrosive coatings feature long cycle, large investment, great technical difficulty and high risk. In foreign countries, the research and development of marine anticorrosive coatings is mainly distributed in large and strong companies such as IP of Britain, Hemple of Denmark, Sigmakalon of the Netherlands, Jotun of Norway and Kansai Paint of Japan. These companies have formed a complete strict system of production supply, quality supervision, standard setting and field management.
   In spite of an overall growth slowdown with coatings in the world, marine anticorrosive coatings have ushered a period of rapid development. According to projection, the demand of coatings in the world will increase at an annual rate of 3.7% in the next few years, but the average annual demand growth of marine anticorrosive coatings will be more than 10%. The growth is mainly distributed in the Asian market. With the overall production concentration of coatings in the world, the production of marine anticorrosive coatings is getting more and more concentrated. The output of marine anticorrosive coatings in more than a dozen multinationals accounts for over 60% of the world total. Environmental protection and product innovation will lead the development trend of marine anticorrosive coatings in the world.

Fierce competition in the domestic market

The production of marine anticorrosive coatings in China is mainly distributed in paint plants located in Qingdao of Shandong province, Shanghai, Dalian of Liaoning province, Tianjin, Changzhou of Jiangsu province, Guangzhou of Guangdong province and Xiamen of Fujian province. A series of product varieties have already been developed. China has set up quality supervision agencies such as "China Shipbuilding Industry Ship Coatings Xiamen Inspection Station" and "Marine Coatings Product Quality Supervision Center" in recent years. The overall technical level however still lags behind advanced countries.
   There is fierce competition in the domestic market of marine anticorrosive coatings. Major producers of ship coatings in the world started to enter the Chinese market from 2003. In the domestic market of ship coatings, foreign-funded companies hold an 80% share today.

Rapid growth of demand

According to the recent projection made by Frost & Sullivan of the United States, the demand of coatings for the protection of offshore oil/gas drilling equipment will increase considerably and the growth will be the largest in Asia. The market demand of marine anticorrosive coatings, mainly ship coatings, will increase at an annual rate of 30% in China.
    (1) With the constant expansion of the marine development scale, a large group of cross-sea and near-sea bridges will be constructed. These marine structures need a long anticorrosive duration. The construction of these projects will promote the demand increase of marine anticorrosive coatings.
    (2) China has more than 160 offshore oil platforms. More than RMB50 billion will be invested in the next 5 years in the construction of 50 offshore oil platforms and 1 100 production wells in the Bohai Sea. With the massive development of marine bed oilfields, more oil/gas pipelines will be constructed. The construction of offshore oil platforms and marine oil/gas pipelines will promote a rapid demand increase of marine anticorrosive coatings.
    (3) China is conducting large-scale construction of ports, but the comprehensive throughput capacity of ports still can not satisfy the needs in the increasing freight volume. The total freight volume in ports will reach more than 5.0 billion tons in 2006 and the deficit in the throughput capacity will be 500 million tons in 2006 and more than 2.0 billion tons in 2010. It is expected that RMB30 billion - 40 billion will be invested in the construction of ports each year in the next 5 - 10 years. A new opportunity will be provided to the development of marine anticorrosive coatings.
   The production of marine anticorrosive coatings in China is therefore at the stage of rapid development. The market volume of marine anticorrosive coatings in China is expected to reach RMB10 billion in 2010.

Development focus on marine concrete anticorrosive coatings

With the greater attention paid to environmental protection, the development of high-performance coatings with energy conservation, environmental protection and great durability is the major orientation. Water-based coatings, high-solid coatings, solvent-free coatings, super weather-resistant fluorocarbon coatings and silicone modified coatings will become the focus of research and development. The corrosion prevention of marine steel structures has developed considerably in China. Concrete anticorrosive coatings as another important component of marine anticorrosive coatings are however still at the initial stage. Concrete as a nonmetallic material is extensively used in cross-sea bridges and coastal projects and has a serious problem of corrosion in seawater. Concrete structures used in marine conditions should therefore be more carefully protected. The State Ocean Administration and the Ministry of Communications request that concrete used in new marine projects must be coated with special protective coatings. The research and development of marine concrete anticorrosive coatings will therefore be one of the major development focuses in the production of marine anticorrosive coatings in China.

Table 1 Major Producers of Marine Anticorrosive Coatings in China in 2005
   
Producer    
      Output (thousand tons)      Major product
Marine Research Institute of Chemical Industry
    6.5     ship coatings, heavy anticorrosive coatings, container coatings
Shanghai Kailin Paint Factory
    15      ship coatings, heavy anticorrosive coatings, container coatings
Dalian Zebon Fluorocarbon Paint Co.
    2       heavy anticorrosive coatings based on fluorocarbon varieties
Tianjin Beacon Paints & Coatings Co.
    70      heavy anticorrosive coatings
Jiangsu Lanling Chemical Group Co.
    25      ship coatings, heavy anticorrosive coatings
Changzhou Guanghui Chemical Co.
    31      heavy anticorrosive coatings
Xiamen Shuangrui Ship Coatings Co.
    5       ship coatings, heavy anticorrosive coatings
Guangzhou Zhujiang Chemical Group
    70      container coatings, heavy anticorrosive coatings
Shanghai Hisun Paint Co.
    10      ship coatings, container coatings
Source: CNCIC Chemdata

Table 2 Major Multinationals of Marine Anticorrosive
Coatings in China in 2005  
Company                              Site
    Output(thousand tons)      Major product
Akzo Nobel of the Ne