Challenging Environment for Marine Coatings

By Cynthia Challener

Marine coatings must provide protection and performance under extremely harsh conditions. Today, marine coatings producers are find­ing that the current regulatory envi­ronment has made the develop­ment and introduction of coatings that meet the needs of shipbuilders and operators as challenging as the physical environment in which their products must perform. Several other factors are also strongly affecting the marine coat­ings market. The industry has re­sponded by investing heavily in re­search and development efforts designed to create new technologies that will enable marine coatings to meet future regulatory requirements and provide the performance de­manded by the marine industry.

The U.S. marine coatings market is estimated by The Freedonia Group to be worth approximately $450 million in 2004, based on volume of 22 million gallons. The Cleveland, OH-based market research firm pegs the growth rate for marine coatings in the U.S. at a modest 3% per year.