Trend Outlook: Analysis and Forecast of Key Development Directions for China’s Coatings Industry During the 15th Five-Year Plan Period

In 2022, the global coatings market generated sales revenue of approximately USD 179.7 billion. The Asia-Pacific region is the largest coatings market worldwide, with coatings sales totaling USD 63 billion in 2022—accounting for 35% of global coatings sales. North America and Europe accounted for 19% and 24%, respectively. In 2022, China’s domestic coatings market reached approximately USD 45 billion in sales, representing roughly 78% of the Asia-Pacific region’s total. Leveraging advantages in raw material and labor costs, Asia-Pacific coatings products enjoy greater price competitiveness globally; China’s coatings market thus exhibits strong growth prospects. Over the past decade, China’s coatings industry has maintained steady growth, driven by rising construction investment, automotive industry expansion, and ongoing urbanization. Total national coatings production stood at 12.72 million tons in 2012 and rose to 34.88 million tons in 2022—a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.61% over the decade. China’s Coatings Production, 2017–2023 (Unit: 10,000 tons) 3. Major Industry Players (1) Foreign Competitors 1) PPG (Pittsburgh Plate Glass) PPG Industries, founded in 1883 and headquartered in the United States, is a world-leading supplier of coatings and specialty materials. Its product portfolio includes paints, coatings, and specialty materials applied across construction, consumer goods, industrial, transportation, and aftermarket sectors, with operations spanning the globe. PPG Coatings (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., established in 2002, is PPG’s wholly owned subsidiary in China. It manufactures and sells aerospace materials, automotive coatings, industrial coatings, packaging coatings, architectural coatings, automotive refinish coatings, light-industrial coatings, protective & marine coatings, and specialty materials in China. PPG is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE ticker: PPG). From January to September 2023, it reported USD 13.896 billion in revenue and USD 1.206 billion in net profit. 2) Axalta Axalta Coating Systems—originally DuPont’s Performance Coatings division—is headquartered in the United States and ranks among the world’s leading suppliers of liquid and powder coatings. Its business is organized into two divisions: Performance Coatings and Transportation Coatings, serving four key global end markets: Refinish, Industrial, Light Vehicle, and Commercial Vehicle. Axalta entered China in 1984. Today, it operates three liquid-coatings manufacturing plants on the Chinese mainland, one Asia-Pacific R&D Center, one Global Color Development Center, and four customer training centers, employing over 1,400 people. Axalta is listed on the NYSE (ticker: AXTA). From January to September 2023, it reported USD 3.887 billion in revenue and USD 195 million in net profit. 3) AkzoNobel AkzoNobel, founded in 1969 and headquartered in the Netherlands, is a Fortune Global 500 company. Its product portfolio includes architectural decorative coatings, automotive and aerospace coatings, marine and protective coatings, powder coatings, wood coatings and adhesives, specialty chemicals, functional chemicals, and industrial chemicals.

Coatings Insights: Strategic Retreat or Full-Scale Contraction? After Exiting Southeast Asian Decorative Coatings, Can Axalta’s Automotive Refinish and Wood Coatings Businesses Survive?

The largest merger in the global coatings industry in recent years—the so-called 'century marriage'—has now entered its most critical—and most arduous—regulatory review phase. 'Planned divestiture of automotive refinish coatings'… 'Remedial measures required by regulators for U.S. wood coatings, in addition to European automotive refinish coatings'… On October 21, responses from Greg Poux-Guillaume, CEO of AkzoNobel, heightened uncertainty surrounding the newly proposed entity 'Axanzo'. On October 15, AkzoNobel and Axalta jointly announced that their proposed merged entity would officially be named 'Axanzo'. This USD 25-billion parity merger aims to create a global coatings giant generating approximately USD 17 billion in annual revenue and operating in over 160 countries. Though the crown is splendid, bearing its weight proves daunting. En route to forming 'Axanzo', AkzoNobel and Axalta have undertaken an intense series of strategic divestitures—dubbed 'limb amputations'—in both capital markets and antitrust arenas. Early in October, AkzoNobel sold its decorative coatings business in Southeast Asia to Nippon Paint; mid-month reports indicated that regulatory approval for 'Axanzo' would face formidable hurdles in the EU and the U.S., potentially forcing divestitures of powder coatings, automotive refinish coatings, and wood coatings businesses. Having already lost its Southeast Asian decorative coatings business, will powder coatings, automotive refinish coatings, and wood coatings also slip away? After such painful asset sales, what will remain of 'Axanzo'? NO.1 Proactive Divestitures to Pave the Way for Merger Ahead of the 'Axanzo' merger, AkzoNobel agreed to sell its decorative coatings businesses across Southeast Asia and Australia to Japan-based Nippon Paint for a total transaction value of USD 1.35 billion (approximately RMB 9.052 billion). This deal covers decorative coatings operations under brands including Dulux across seven core markets: Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, and Australia—marking the formal conclusion of AkzoNobel’s strategic review of its Asian decorative coatings portfolio. (For details, see: 'Major Shake-up in Coatings Industry! Nippon Paint to Acquire AkzoNobel’s Decorative Coatings Business in Seven Southeast Asian Countries for RMB 9 Billion') Earlier still, AkzoNobel had divested its decorative coatings assets in India and Pakistan for USD 1.6 billion and EUR 50 million, respectively. Yet, according to AkzoNobel, this sweeping 'Asia-wide asset divestiture' was not mandated by antitrust regulators. Greg Poux-Guillaume explicitly stated that these were proactive strategic portfolio optimizations—designed to generate substantial net cash inflows and to concentrate the company’s full attention and resources on completing the merger with Axalta. These successive cross-border strategic exits may have substantially eroded AkzoNobel’s foundational presence in the high-growth decorative coatings market across the Asia-Pacific region. If selling decorative coatings represents a voluntary effort to 'lighten the load and prepare for a fresh start' under the new 'Axanzo' banner, then what unfolded next in Europe amounted to a forced 'amputation'. NO.2 Forced Exit from Automotive Refinish and Wood Coatings Among the overlapping core businesses of the two giants, automotive refinish coatings have consistently been subject to the strictest scrutiny by global competition regulators.

Did Raised Earnings Estimates Just Shift Axalta Coating Systems' (AXTA) Investment Narrative?

Oct 24, 2026

Axalta Coating Systems anticipates September 2026 earnings with projected $0.71 EPS and $1.33 billion revenue. Analysts note raised estimates reflect confidence in managing raw material inflation through cost actions and pricing discipline.