Paint & Coating Manufacturing Industry Profile

The US paint and coatings manufacturing industry includes about 1,100 companies with combined annual sales of $20 billion. Large companies include Benjamin Moore, RPM International, Sherwin-Williams, Valspar, and divisions of DuPont and PPG. The industry is highly concentrated: the largest 50 companies account for about 80 percent of revenue.

The global coatings industry currently generates about $90 billion in annual revenue. By 2015, the global coatings market is expected to be valued at nearly $100 billion, according to Global Industry Analysts (GIA). The top paint and coating producing countries include the US, China, Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands. Outside the US, major companies include Akzo Nobel (the Netherlands), Nippon Paint (Japan), Hempel A/S (Denmark), and the coatings operations of BASF (Germany).

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is driven by industrial production and the housing market. The profitability of individual companies depends on technological expertise and efficient production. Small companies can compete successfully with large ones because of the large number of paints and coatings used for a wide variety of applications, including decoration, water resistance, and corrosion resistance. The industry is highly automated: average annual revenue per employee is about $550,000.

Imports, which come largely from Canada and Germany, represent about 5 percent of the US paint and coatings market. Exports, which account for about 10 percent of US production, go mainly to Canada and Mexico.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Major products are "architectural coatings" (house paints), product finishes, ...