
Industrial applications
Challenge: Delivering profitable sustainability for a fragmented market
From automotive and transportation components to metal furniture, tools, and coil coatings – industrial applications are everywhere, and nearly always in need of protective or functional coatings.
In this fragmented market, coatings manufacturers face pressure to meet a wide range of performance needs, while staying close to their customers – be it on a local, regional or global level - and keeping the overall cost of coating operations low.
At the same time, they must comply with external regulations such as the EU’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), as well as meeting internal safety and sustainability targets. Smart coating solutions that boost efficiency can support all these goals.
Status: A broad technology toolbox for more sustainable solutions
To help industrial coatings manufacturers address various customer needs, Covestro offers a broad range of technologies – from polyurethane solutions for heavy-duty agricultural equipment coatings to acrylics for domestic appliances or machine housings.
Demand for improved sustainability performance is driving the industrial coatings market’s ongoing transition from solventborne to waterborne technologies. Our waterborne resins can help customers meet their sustainability targets and reduce volatile organic compound (VOC) content, together with our high-solids solutions and CQ solutions with at least 25% alternative raw material content.
To enable more efficient coating application, emissions reductions, and cost savings, we also offer Pasquick®. This technology reduces VOC emissions and cures up to three times faster than conventional systems while delivering the same high-level protection. And within the Pasquick® system, Desmodur® ultra – containing <0.1% residual monomer content – can help manufacturers comply with the REACH diisocyanates restriction.
Next: Toward tailored solutions for ambitious future demands
As the industrial coatings market grows, there will be opportunities for coatings manufacturers to serve even more end-applications. At Covestro, we will support this by expanding our portfolio, combining our experience in bulk industrial PU solutions with an expansion in acrylic solutions.
Our range of direct-to-metal solutions that enable fewer coating layers is already growing, as we continue our transition from solventborne to waterborne resins with products such as NeoCryl® XK-117/1. And we continue to develop low-bake and fast-cure solutions to help our customers reduce energy consumption, emissions, and costs.
Ultimately, we aim to offer more tailored solutions to help customers meet the needs of their markets.
1 Direct-to-Metal Coatings (DTMs) Market, Report Size, Worth, Revenue, Growth, Industry Value, Share 2024
2 https://prismaneconsulting.com/pressrelease-details/ace-coatings-market-worth-usd-3-billion-by-2030
3 https://www.isopa.org/reach-restriction-on-diisocyanates/#:~:text=On%204%20August%202020%2C%20the,diisocyanates%20from%2024%20August%202023