How is the future of waterborne coatings

Water-based paints have entered the Chinese market since 1996 and have been in development for 17 years. Although it has become a hot spot in the Chinese paint industry, the lack of development of water-based paints is an indisputable fact. For more than a decade, the phenomenon of “industry fever and cold market” has plagued our painters. For the development of water-based coatings, on the one hand, the community has given great attention, on the other hand, it has developed completely under market behavior. Therefore, water-based paints have not been seen as "landing."

Waterborne wood lacquer used to have its own promotion path because of inferior performance and price factors. However, due to the factors of rising raw material prices that led to the rise in the price of some oil paints, it can be said that the water paint market has brought about some development. However, in terms of its performance, many performance indicators of waterborne wood coatings are inferior to those of traditional polyester paints, especially the hardness, wear resistance, and membrane fullness of wood coatings.

At present, the difficulty in the overall promotion of waterborne coatings is mainly due to the fact that their processes are not as mature as conventional paints, and there is greater improvement and room for improvement in the physical properties of waterborne coatings. In view of this, waterborne coatings cannot yet have an absolute advantage in the market. To sum up, if water-based wood paints are to completely replace oil-based wood paints, they will have to go through a long and difficult period. No matter what kind of process waterborne paints will take to replace oil paints, from a long-term point of view, it will be an inevitable trend for water-based paints to replace oil-based paints. One day, water-based paints have to go out of the “industry heat, market cold” cycle, welcome To a vast world.

Water-based paint "big cake" development requires "three conditions"

As early as 2002-2004, in the face of the “big cake” in the water-based paint market, many manufacturers launched water-based wood-based paint projects. Together with merchants and the media, water-based wood lacquers can be considered as a momentous scene. Unexpectedly, due to the lack of a mature market environment, many products are mainly focused on attracting consumers, and the market does not buy it, causing water-based paint companies to lose their lives.

Huang Shaodong, a well-known commentator, once pointed out that the development of any product should form a market. The premise is that there must be an industrial chain that supports the development of this product. Otherwise, the efforts of any single sector in a single enterprise are not enough to promote the rapid development of this product. In other words, the development of waterborne coatings must have an industrial chain that supports the development of waterborne wood coatings.

We all know that the development of waterborne wood coatings must have at least three most important conditions: technology development, market demand, and policy support.

1. technology R & D

Why is the promotion of waterborne wood coatings slower and not widely used? There are two main reasons for this: First, the quality of water-based wood lacquer, that is, fullness, hardness, gloss and water resistance is not enough; Second, the sales price of water-based wood lacquer paint is higher than the traditional paint, that is, the cost. These two issues have plagued paint companies and have been actively researching technology.

In 2006, Garbo Asia's largest fully automated production line for 10,000-ton waterborne wood coatings, which lowered the sales price of water-based products by more than 30%, was very close to the price of traditional paints. In 2009, in order to be able to break through the technical bottlenecks of domestic waterborne wood lacquer, Bardez and Beijing University of Chemical Technology cooperated to undertake major scientific research results of the transfer of the national "863" plan. In 2011, Tuosi invested heavily and hired elites in the field of water-based paints to form a “Coach Waterborne Wood Coatings Promotion Team” to increase the market promotion of waterborne wood coatings. In 2013, Shangke Coatings established a 22,000 square meter waterborne wood coating sprayer application service center in Longjiang.

2. Market demand Waterborne wood lacquer has always been in the position of “being well-informed” in the Chinese market. On one side is excellent performance and broad market space, on the other hand, it is a variety of problems to open up and promote, while trying to take the initiative to seize the initiative, but on the other side but worried that the market after the cultivation of groups of food. For coating companies, the strategic choice of waterborne wood coatings can be described as difficult.

If water-based paint is a cheaper, harder, and stronger alternative, the market's competition mechanism can easily complete the product replacement process. For example, the disappearance of tapes and video tapes after the appearance of CDs and DVDs is an example. However, despite decades of research and development, waterborne coatings are still unable to fully achieve the level of paint performance and cost. The main advantage of waterborne coatings is their low VOC content.

However, as the paint industry has gradually entered the high-cost track, rising raw material prices continue to dilute the profits of the paint industry. At the same time, people’s awareness of environmental protection and health increases, and waterborne wood lacquer technology and performance are more and more stable. The proportion of waterborne wood lacquer is gradually increasing. It is estimated that in the next five years, the market share of water-based coatings in the Chinese market can reach 30% or even higher.

3. Policy Support

Recalling the history of the development of water-based coatings in Europe and the United States, policies and regulations have played a crucial role in them, and the stringent policies and regulations that have been introduced have forced many paint companies to upgrade their industries and embark on a water-based path. On the contrary, due to imperfect policies and regulations in the country, the paint industry did not really focus on the development of water-based coatings. The short-sightedness of companies caused a small investment in the water-based paint market, which failed to influence consumers to achieve the ultimate purchase behavior, and the consumer’s behavior It will affect the judgment of policy makers and companies on the water-based paint market. Therefore, accelerating the development of waterborne coatings in China must start with policies and regulations.

4. Bright prospects for water-based coatings to achieve industrial upgrading is not an overnight success. The development of water-based coatings cannot be entirely allowed by market behavior. Otherwise, customers are not willing to pay for water-based coatings. On the one hand, manufacturers are reluctant to invest in research and development of water-based paints. In places where external problems occur, market functions fail. Only through government actions protect public interests, such as government legislation.

The industrial upgrading of water-based coatings is not an overnight success, but the bright prospects of water-based coatings are difficult to conceal. Water-based paints must fully enter the middle of the consumer. It is of course important to compete with the oil-based paint camp. It is even more important to defeat their own backwardness and defects, strengthen collaboration among the industry, break through technical problems, and make water-based paints safe and environmentally friendly.

Waterborne coatings are such a gamble, a gamble for the future. It is believed that water-based paint products can win the present and win the future.