Antifouling Paints & Coatings Market - Forecast(2024 - 2030)

Antifouling Paints & Coatings Market size is forecast to reach $13.06 billion by 2025, after growing at a CAGR of 9.1% during 2020-2025. Antifouling paints & coatings are a special type of coating that is applied with paint to the bottom of a ship or marine vessel to prevent or retard the degradation of the metallic surface that remains submerged. It helps to improve the longevity and efficiency of vessels. These marine paints are also useful for fixed and floating offshore oil rigs. The growth of the market of antifouling paints & coatings is expected to be driven by the high demand from the marine industry.

The report: “Antifouling Paints & Coatings Market- Forecast (2020-2025)”, by IndustryARC, covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the antifouling paints & coatings Industry.

By Type: Copper-Based, Self-Polishing, Hybrid, Hard antifouling, Eroding antifouling, and Others

By Application: Shipping Vessels, Drilling Rigs & Production Platforms, Fishing Boats, Yachts & other Boats, Inland Waterways Transport, Mooring Lines, and Others.

By Geography: North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and RoW.

Hard antifouling held the largest share in the antifouling paints & coatings market in 2019. Hard antifouling work by releasing biocide from the surface of the coating to deter fouling organisms. Hard antifouling don’t really wear, but abrasive material in the water such as silt and sand may lead to a very minor reduction in the film build. Biocide leaching rate reduces over the lifetime of the product. After a few seasons, there may be a residual build-up of product that needs to be removed. Boats moored in fresh water normally use these types as antifouling are designed to erode in salt water and may not erode sufficiently in fresh water. Eroding antifouling held the second largest share in the antifouling paints & coatings market. Eroding antifouling, also known as soft or ablative antifouling, also work by releasing biocide. However, this type of over antifouling slowly erodes in seawater eventually leaving little or no antifouling on your hull. If you wipe the hull at any time you’ll see a small cloud of product washing away. Overall, eroding antifouling offers very good all-round performance in a wide range of fouling conditions. This factor will drive the growth of the market in the forecast period.

The shipping vessels segment held the largest share in the antifouling paints & coatings market in 2019 growing at CAGR of 10.2%. During a ship’s lifetime microorganisms, plants, or algae gather in its hull, during a process called biofouling. These organisms, known as invasive aquatic species, can negatively affect a ship’s operation, while they also present a threat to the marine environment. Antifouling is the process of protecting a ship’s hull with specifically designed materials, such as special paints and coatings that prevent these organisms from piling up in the hull. Increasing usage of antifouling paints & coatings for protecting vessels from growth of fouling organisms, along with the extension of dry dock intervals. Antifouling paints & coatings are used on shipping vessels to reduce fuel consumption as they decrease frictional resistance and prevent fouling organisms from sticking to the hulls. This factor will drive the growth of the market in the forecast period.

The recent and on-going global outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has created a high degree of disquiet amongst the public as to the maintenance of health and safety on board shipping vessels. Fears within the industry are that the impact of COVID-19 will affect sales for a long-time, particularly in the Asian market, which has become a very important market for shipping vessels companies in recent years. But after situation became normal it will grow with steady rate in the forecast period. 

Asia-Pacific (APAC) dominated the antifouling paints & coatings market with a share of more than 48% followed by North America and Europe. The economy of APAC is mainly influenced by the economic dynamics of countries such as China and India, but with growing foreign direct investment for economic development of South East Asia, the current scenario is changing. Countries in South East Asia has increased demand can be attributed to the growing number of ship building activities in the region. China, Korea, and Japan are the leading countries in the ship building industry in Asia-Pacific. Low cost of raw materials and labor, as well as the introduction of advanced products is expected to drive the growth of the antifouling paints & coatings market in these countries. Moreover, increasing expenditure on exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in China, India, and Thailand are expected to further fuel demand for these paints in drilling rigs and production platforms. Also, the emergence of Australia and India as manufacturing destinations of shipping vessels owing to regulatory support for promoting new investments at the domestic level is expected to increase industry size. This factor will drive the growth of the market of antifouling paints & coatings in the forecast period. 

The need to import and export goods, as sparked by globalization, made shipbuilding an important strategic industry. The shipbuilding industry is responsible for the design and construction of ocean going vessels all around the world. Most of the global ship production today is concentrated in Asian countries such as China, Japan and South Korea, though large shipyards also exist in many other countries. The shipbuilding industry is involved in the construction and modification of ships and these operations are carried out in specialized facilities called shipyards. Additionally, as more and more countries around the world open their shores to international trade, demand for products manufactured by shipbuilding companies is expected to rise in the next few years. Furthermore, relaxing of trade regulations is projected to help fuel the growth of the global shipbuilding market in terms of facilitating ease of movement of goods across borders. This factor will drive the growth of the market in the forecast period.

A relatively large number of cruise companies compete for world market shares in different ways, developing innovative commercial strategies and investing multi-million dollar budgets in the research and development of state-of-the-art vessels able to combine the elegance of high quality living spaces with the cutting-edge technological concepts needed to provide stability to these new floating hotels, pushing the boundaries of naval construction and design to the limits for exceptional navigation performance and live board comfort while maintaining the highest standards for safety and environmental management systems. These cruise use large quantity of antifouling paints & coatings because they have to sale entire globe. This factor will drive the growth of the market in the forecast period.

The antifouling paints & coatings leach from the paint into sea water, and are absorbed by marine organisms. Persistent and bioaccumilative, they can remain in the environment and increase in concentration up the food chain. And tributyl tin (TBT), one of the most effective organotins released by this paint and coating, is considered be the most toxic chemical deliberately released into the marine environment. TBT has hormone-disrupting properties. Even at low concentrations it causes deformations in oysters and genital changes in snails. The decline of commercial oysters along the Atlantic coast of France and the UK in the 1970s is attributed to TBT contamination. This factor will hinder the growth of the market in the forecast period.

Technology launches, acquisitions and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the antifouling paints & coatings market. In 2019, the market of antifouling paints & coatings has been consolidated by the top five players accounting for XX% of the share. Major players in the antifouling paints & coatings market are BASF, The Sherwin-Williams Company, Chugoku Marine Paints, Ltd., PPG Industries, Inc., and Nippon Paint Marine Coatings Co. Ltd., and Others.