The Ibuychem Research Institute has significantly upgraded the "2025-2026 China Coatings Industry Deep Research and Strategic Development Report," leveraging its extensive industry expertise and authoritative data resources. The report thoroughly analyzes price fluctuations of core upstream raw materials such as resins, titanium dioxide, and solvents, while providing a more comprehensive assessment of development trends in specialized segments like architectural coatings, industrial coatings, and specialty coatings. It offers data support and professional analysis to help enterprises anticipate market risks, formulate strategic decisions, and position themselves in emerging markets, enabling them to navigate complex and volatile market conditions with precision and seize opportunities.

To obtain the full PDF version of the "2025-2026 China Coatings Industry Deep Research and Strategic Development Report" along with data charts, please contact the relevant business personnel of Ibuychem.zhangq@ibuychem.com

Previous: Finished Paint Products

Chapter 1 Overview of the Global Coatings Industry in 2025

1.1 Overview of the Global Coatings Market

The global economic growth rate is expected to be around 2.7% in 2025, but trade frictions, geopolitical conflicts, and high interest rate environments continue to exert pressure, leading to sluggish global construction activities and directly impacting the coatings industry. The global paint production for the whole year was 67.39 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 0.5%; The total output value of the industry was $202.2 billion, a slight increase of 0.1% year-on-year, showing a pattern of declining production and slight growth in output value, mainly due to the decrease in raw material prices and optimization of product structure……

1.2 Changes in important regional patterns

The regional differentiation of the global coatings market is significant, with growth hotspots concentrated in emerging markets and developed markets generally under pressure. The overall weakness in the Asian region resulted in a year-on-year decrease of 1.1% in production and a 0.9% decrease in output value. The decline in China's real estate market and the slight decline in manufacturing are the core drag, while the decorative coatings markets in Japan and South Korea have declined, and only Vietnam and Malaysia in Southeast Asia have achieved growth; Due to the sluggish housing market in North America, production decreased by 0.7%, but output increased by 1.2% against the trend, relying on cost optimization and product upgrades to achieve profitability improvement; The economic margins in the European region have improved but demand has not turned positive, resulting in a 1.8% decrease in production and a 0.9% decrease in output value. The German and French markets continue to decline; The highlights of global growth in the Middle East and Africa region include a 4.0% increase in production and a 4.8% increase in output value in the Middle East; Africa's production increased by 2.9% and output value increased by 4.0%, with strong demand driven by the construction and manufacturing industries; Latin America is recovering from regional differentiation, with Brazil and Argentina growing and Mexico gradually stabilizing, with production increasing by 2.4% and output increasing by 3.2%……

1.3 Development characteristics of important coating categories

The global paint category is developing towards five directions: environmental protection, functionalization, intelligence, application expansion, and diversified pattern

The trend towards environmental protection is deepening: water-based, high solid content, powder, radiation cured (UV/EB), and bio based coatings have become mainstream, and low VOC products are accelerating the replacement of traditional solvent based coatings.

Functionalization and high-performance go hand in hand: the demand for anti-corrosion, fireproof, antibacterial, and self-healing coatings has surged, suitable for scenarios such as marine engineering, building safety, and high-end equipment.

Integration of intelligence and digitization: intelligent color changing, conductive and other intelligent coatings are implemented, and AI digital coating achieves precise control throughout the entire process.

Application areas continue to expand: new energy, low altitude economy, and urban renewal have become incremental cores, and demand for energy storage, photovoltaics, and drone coatings has exploded.

Reshaping the market competition pattern: international giants' mergers and acquisitions are accelerating, local enterprises in China and India are rising, and cross-border integration is intensifying industry competition……

Chapter 2 Overview of China's Coatings Industry in 2025

2.1 Production and Sales of Coatings in China

In 2025, although China's coating industry has taken solid steps on the road of high-quality development, coatings production saw a marginal decline  under the dual pressure of weak downstream demand and intensified internal competition in the industry. The annual paint production is about 36.5 million tons, a decrease of 1.0% compared to 2024. From the perspective of main business revenue, the revenue of China's paint industry in 2025 is about 427 billion yuan, a decrease of 1.2% compared to 2024. However, due to the high-quality development of the coatings industry, there has been a significant increase in industry profits. The total profit of China's paint industry in 2025 is about 28 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.6%. Faced with the industry dilemma of weak market demand, prominent supply-demand contradictions, and intense price competition, "going global" has transformed from an optional option for enterprise development to a necessary path for survival and long-term development. In this context, Chinese coating companies have been expanding into the international market, adopting a dual wheel drive model of product export and overseas factory construction, actively exploring overseas incremental space, and continuously increasing the scale of product exports. In 2025, China's paint export volume reached a historic high of 407700 tons, a significant increase of 21.8% compared to 2024, and a doubling growth of 107.3% compared to 2020……

2.2 Characteristics of Regional Development of Coatings in China

In 2025, the regional development pattern of China's coating industry will continue to optimize, presenting a core trend of "strong in the east and prosperous in the west, refined in the south and stable in the north, and undertaken by the central region". The dominant position of coastal areas has not fundamentally changed, but the process of industrial gradient transfer is accelerating. Each region relies on its own resource endowment, industrial foundation, and policy guidance to form differentiated development paths. Green transformation and industrial upgrading run through the whole year, becoming the core mainline for promoting high-quality development of the industry

2.3 Changes in the Pattern of China's Coatings Industry

2.4 Current situation of China's paint industry operation

2.5 Regulations and Policy Guidance for China's Coatings Industry

2.6 Update of relevant standards for China's paint industry

……

Chapter 3 Analysis of China's Coatings Market Segments in 2025

3.1 Architectural Coatings

In 2025, the real estate market will be under pressure, and the demand for building coatings will inevitably be affected. The demand will continue to be sluggish, mainly due to a significant decline in engineering building coatings. According to data monitored by the Purchasing and Plastics Research Institute, the production of building coatings is expected to reach 9.14 million tons in 2025, a decrease of 9.4% from 2024, reflecting the reality of weak market demand. This downward trend is highly correlated with leading indicators such as new construction area and completed area in the real estate industry. Especially in the first half of the year, due to the slow resumption of work after the Spring Festival and the lack of confidence in the real estate market in some cities, paint companies generally adopted a strategy of reducing inventory and controlling production capacity, resulting in a contraction in output. It is worth noting that although the total production has decreased, the structural proportion of high-end, functional, and environmentally friendly coatings has increased, indicating that the market is transitioning from "quantity" to "quality"……

3.2 Automotive Coatings

In 2025, the Chinese automotive coatings market will achieve a simultaneous increase in quantity and price with the double increase in production and sales of the automotive industry and the increase in the penetration rate of new energy, presenting the operational characteristics of "overall expansion+structural optimization+technological upgrading", with new energy and exports becoming the core growth engines. The annual production and sales of automobiles reached 34.531 million and 34.4 million respectively, a year-on-year increase of 10.4% and 9.4%, ranking first in the world for 17 consecutive years; The production and sales of new energy vehicles have reached a new peak, leading the world for 11 consecutive years with 16.626 million and 16.49 million vehicles, respectively. The proportion of new car sales has exceeded 47.9%. The rapid development of the automotive industry has directly transformed into strong momentum for the upstream coatings industry. According to statistics from the Purchasing and Plastics Research Institute, by 2025, the production of automotive coatings in China is expected to reach 1.74 million tons, with the output value scale climbing to 64.5 billion yuan……

3.3 General Industrial Coatings

In 2025, China's general industrial coatings industry has not achieved high-speed growth, but relying on structural demand support, it will maintain a stable development trend overall. General industrial coatings cover multiple application areas such as anti-corrosion, machinery, steel structures, and containers. Benefiting from structural demand driven by new energy infrastructure, urban renewal, and high-end manufacturing upgrades, segmented fields exhibit differentiated growth characteristics, avoiding overall industry growth slowdown. According to monitoring data from the Purchasing and Plastics Research Institute, the production of general industrial coatings in China will reach 10.04 million tons by 2025, with a market size exceeding 93.7 billion yuan, an average year-on-year increase of 5.0%. The trend of "stable quantity and rising price" highlights the resilience of the industry's development, and also reflects the phased achievements of the industry's transformation from scale expansion to quality improvement……

3.4 Anti corrosion coating

In recent years, with the continuous development of China's coating industry, as well as the development of industries such as ships, containers, marine engineering, offshore wind power, and petrochemicals, the demand for anti-corrosion coatings has been increasing. In addition, international anti-corrosion coating companies have set up production bases in China and excellent anti-corrosion coating companies have emerged. China's anti-corrosion coating industry has made significant progress, leading to a steady increase in the production of anti-corrosion coatings in China. According to data statistics, the production of anti-corrosion coatings in China will reach 4.64 million tons in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 5.0%. In terms of output value scale, the total output value scale of anti-corrosion coatings in 2025 will be 66.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.0%……

3.5 Ship Coatings

3.6 Furniture Paint

3.7 3C Coatings

3.8 Fireproof coating

3.9 Wind Power Coatings

3.10 Rail Transit Coatings

3.11 Aviation Coatings

3.12 Container Coatings

3.13 Artistic Coatings

3.14 Three Electric Coatings

3.15 Powder coating

3.16 UV/EB Coatings

……

Next article: Raw Materials

Chapter 4 Analysis of the Operation of the Chemical Industry in 2025

4.1 Overview of Global Chemical Industry Development

In 2025, the global industrial sector as a whole will be at the bottom of the cycle, with global GDP growth slowing down to 3.0%. Downstream demand for automobiles, electronics, real estate, and other end products will recover slowly, coupled with increasing trade barriers and accelerated supply chain regionalization, putting pressure on industry investment and profitability. From a structural perspective, traditional bulk commodity prices are sluggish and profits are meager; High value-added tracks such as new energy materials, electronic chemicals, and biodegradable materials maintain high growth and become the core engines driving industry growth. Multinational giants are accelerating their strategic contraction and focus, shifting resources towards high-end specialty chemicals and low-carbon technologies, further increasing industry concentration. Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, the global chemical industry will still face challenges of slow demand recovery and sustained supply pressure……

4.2 Global Crude Oil Price Trends

In 2025, global crude oil prices will break away from the high volatility pattern of the previous two years and show a distinct feature of "high before low, fluctuating back, and stabilizing at the end of the year". The overall pressure will decline throughout the year, and the core will be affected by multiple factors such as geopolitical disturbances, OPEC+production policy adjustments, weak global economic recovery, and changes in energy supply and demand structure. The average price of Brent crude oil for the whole year was $68.2 per barrel, a decrease of 15% from $79.9 per barrel in 2024, with the largest decline of 28% during the year; The trend of US crude oil prices is basically synchronized with Brent crude oil, and the overall operating center has significantly shifted downwards compared to the previous year. The market presents a trend of "loose supply leading, weak demand dragging down, and frequent short-term disturbances"……

4.3 Operation of ChemChina

In 2025, the Chinese chemical industry will exhibit typical characteristics of "increasing quantity and decreasing price". According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the industrial added value of chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing industry will maintain moderate growth in 2025, but due to the transmission of upstream energy price fluctuations and weak downstream demand, the product price center will further shift downwards compared to 2024. The cost support of the chemical industry chain has weakened, coupled with the concentrated release of newly added production capacity in the early stage, most basic chemical products have fallen into the quagmire of price wars.

As a traditional demand ballast stone in the chemical industry, the real estate market is still in a deep adjustment cycle in 2025. Key indicators such as real estate development investment and new construction area continue to show negative growth, directly leading to a decline in demand for building materials related chemicals such as polyurethane, soda ash, and PVC. Strategic emerging industries such as new energy vehicles, photovoltaics, wind power, and energy storage have maintained high-speed growth, opening up new growth opportunities for the chemical industry. The demand for new energy materials such as lithium battery separators, electrolytes, photovoltaic grade EVA, POE, etc. continues to increase; The localization process of the semiconductor industry chain is accelerating, and high-end electronic chemicals such as electronic specialty gases, wet electronic chemicals, and photoresist are entering a period of development opportunities; The penetration rate of bio based materials and biodegradable plastics is steadily increasing under the drive of environmental policies……

4.4 China Coatings Procurement Cost Index

In 2025, the Chinese coatings and raw material market will exhibit a distinct "cost price" divergence. From a cost perspective, the market showed a downward trend throughout the year, while the prices of finished products remained relatively firm, and the trend of coating raw material prices also exhibited significant differentiation.

According to monitoring data from the Ibuychem Research Institute, the cost index of paint procurement in December 2025 was 70%, a slight decrease of 1 percentage point compared to the previous month and a decrease of 11 percentage points compared to the previous year. This change in data intuitively reflects the continuous easing of raw material procurement pressure in the paint industry. The price index of finished paint products remained at a high level of 119%, unchanged from the previous month, and increased by 5 percentage points compared to the same period in 2024. The continuous decline of the paint procurement cost index intuitively reflects the overall weakness of raw material prices. Compared with the same period last year, the decrease of 11 percentage points is particularly significant, indicating that the market has moved away from the previous high operating range. This change is not only affected by the fluctuations in global commodity prices, but also a direct reflection of the continued sluggish demand for end products such as real estate and infrastructure……

4.5 Comparison of Annual Prices of Main Raw Materials for Coatings

Most raw material prices have decreased year-on-year, with only a few varieties experiencing an increase

Significant decline: butyl acrylate (-29.75%), neopentyl glycol (-34.89%), acrylic acid (-29.04%);

Slight decline: titanium dioxide (-7.33%), epoxy resin (-3.09%);

Rising varieties: Epichlorohydrin (+31.61%), Organic Silicon DMC (+7.42%). ……

4.6 Anti dumping restrictions on the export of major raw materials

The anti-dumping restrictions on the export of major raw materials for coatings in 2025 are concentrated in the two core categories of titanium dioxide and epoxy resin, with the main initiators being the European Union, the United States, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, etc. Among them, the European Union is the region with the most frequent anti-dumping investigations on coating raw materials from China, which has a significant impact on the cost, market share, and industrial chain layout of export enterprises. The easing of Sino US trade and the reduction of some raw material tariffs have forced companies to build factories overseas to avoid risks……

Chapter 5: Analysis of Upstream Products in China's Coatings Industry Chain by 2025

In 2025, the supply and demand differentiation of core raw materials for coatings will lead to overcapacity and a mainstream trend in prices. The production capacity of titanium dioxide exceeds 6 million tons, with oversupply and a price drop of 9.66%, putting pressure on industry profits; The production capacity of xylene/toluene has expanded, with weak demand and a year-on-year price drop of over 14%. Exports have reached a historic high; The production capacity of epoxy resin is 3.8 million tons, supported by wind power as the core demand, and the price has increased by 6.67% year-on-year; Acrylic acid and ester production capacity ranks first in the world, with insufficient demand, fluctuating prices, and increased industry concentration; The expansion of MDI/TDI production capacity and the year-on-year decline in prices have made exports an important way to digest excess capacity.

5.1 Titanium Dioxide

5.2 Xylene

5.3 n-butanol

5.4 Epoxy resin

5.5 Propylene glycol

5.6 Toluene

5.7 Dimethyl carbonate

5.8 Ethyl acetate

5.9 Acetic acid

5.10 Toluene Diisocyanate (TDI)

5.11 Acrylic acid

5.12 Butyl acrylate

5.13 Epichlorohydrin

5.14 Neopentyl glycol

5.15 Methyl methacrylate (MMA)

5.16 Bisphenol A

5.17 Epoxy propane

5.18 Styrene

5.19 Ethylene glycol

5.20 Emulsion

5.21 Cyclohexanone

5.22 Organic Silicon

5.23 Diphenylmethane Diisocyanate (MDI)

5.24 Phthalic anhydride

5.25 Maleic Anhydride

5.26 1,4-Butanediol (BDO)

5.27 Methyl tert butyl ether (MTBE)

5.28 Zinc Powder

……

Chapter 6 Interpretation of Relevant Macroeconomic Indicators

In 2025, China's GDP will grow by 5.0%, fixed assets investment will decline by 3.8% (real estate investment will decline by 17.2%), CPI will remain flat, PPI will decline by 2.6%, and foreign trade will grow by 3.8%. The macroeconomic situation is stable and improving, with new energy, high-end manufacturing, and urban renewal becoming the core driving forces behind the demand for coatings. The drag of traditional real estate is gradually weakening.

In the future, the core logic of China's coatings industry will shift from scale expansion to high-quality development, with long-term themes including reduced volume but increased profits, green and high-end products, and domestic substitution. Incremental sectors such as new energy (wind power, photovoltaics, energy storage, and new energy vehicles), urban renewal, high-end manufacturing, and overseas expansion will serve as key growth drivers. Corporate competition will focus on technological R&D, independent control of the industrial chain, digital transformation, and integrated services. Risks primarily revolve around subpar real estate recovery, raw material price fluctuations, and intensified international trade frictions.

To obtain the full PDF version of the "2025-2026 China Coatings Industry Deep Research and Strategic Development Report" along with data charts, please contact me at zhangq@ibuychem.com