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Strong Growth Forecast for Steel Pipe Coatings

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The slumping steel pipe coating market of recent years is making a strong global comeback, with a volume increase of nearly 30% expected by 2013, a new market report forecasts.

The market is currently worth about 5 billion euros (about $6.4 billion US), according to The Global Pipe Coating Market, 2010 Edition,  by Applied Market Information Ltd., a UK-based global market research consultancy.

“The pipe coating industry was affected by the global economic crisis, but the magnitude, timing and duration of the effects varied broadly from region to region and even among countries in the same region,” the report notes.

“In Asia, volumes continued to grow during the crisis (driven primarily by sustained activity in China), albeit considerably less than previously expected. In all other regions, the demand dropped, especially in the second half of 2009.”

Fundamentals Prevail

Despite the “array of economic circumstances” that “temporarily stifled” the pipe coatings market, however, the “fundamental factors which drove the steep growth in previous years were still there,” the report says.

Indeed, Asian growth is firmly back on track this year, while sustained improvement is near for Europe, the NAFTA countries and South America, where the effects of the global financial crisis still linger, AMI said.

"Indications for 2010 and onwards appear positive,... and renewed growth is expected in pipeline projects,” the report says.

From 2010 to 2013, the volume of the pipe coating market is expected to grow by nearly 30%, AMI forecasts. Asia, South America and the CIS will experience the fastest growth rates, while Europe, the NAFTA nations and other regional markets are also expected to expand.

Growth Drivers and Trends

Driving the growth will be increasingly complex coatings, sustained demand for oil and gas (and proportionally higher demand for gas), and geographic changes affecting energy supply and demand, according to AMI.

Meanwhile, significant changes are underway on the industry’s supply side. AMI’s previous report predicted a consolidation trend, including acquisitions by Wah Seong and a growing presence by that company in non-Asian markets.

“This is clearly coming to pass now,” says the report, which also identifies the transformations likely to take place in the study period and analyzes their effect on the coating industry.

Scope of Research

The study analyzes the coating of steel pipes used in both onshore and offshore pipelines for the transport of oil, gas and water. Both external and internal coatings are included. The study covers the main raw materials used in this application: polyethylene, polypropylene, tie-layer adhesives, epoxy powders and liquid formulations, coal tars and bitumens, polyurethanes, polyamides and concrete.

The geographic scope is the world market segmented into Europe, NAFTA, Asia, Middle East and Africa, CIS, and Central and South America.

Established in 1986, AMI focuses on global plastics and polymer-related market research. AMI is also the organizer of Pipeline Coating 2011, an international conference on pipe coating technology, materials and markets, to be held in February in Vienna, Austria.