Breaking News! Top 100 Paint Sales Ranking Released! Foreign Brands Account for Over 60% of Market Share!

Meanwhile, 12 companies—including PPG Industries, Lehua Paint Industry, and Musashi Paint—recorded flat annual sales. These firms are mostly leaders in mature, niche segments where market penetration has already reached a high level; their operational focus has thus shifted from volume expansion to profit optimization and product portfolio upgrading, maintaining a stable business posture. In 2025, companies experiencing sales declines exhibited clear tiered characteristics—the magnitude of decline closely correlated with their sector positioning and market strategy. Slight declines were primarily observed among traditional industrial coating enterprises such as Kansai Paint, impacted by soft downstream demand from conventional construction machinery and traditional fuel-powered automotive sectors, resulting in modest order contractions. Moderate declines concentrated among real estate–linked paint brands: Nippon Paint, Oriental Yuhong, Zijinghua, and Meitushishen posted sales drops within the 11%–20% range. On one hand, persistently weak new residential construction starts led to sharp reductions in B2B engineering orders for architectural and waterproofing coatings; on the other, domestic leaders—including Skshu and Baders—leveraged cost-effective offerings and comprehensive offline distribution networks to continuously erode the consumer-market share held by foreign and legacy players. Companies such as Shinko Chemical Research Institute, Donglai Coatings, and Asia Creation suffered declines exceeding 30%, with Asia Creation’s sales plunging by 82%. These firms heavily relied on real estate engineering channels, lacked retail operations to hedge risk, and faced structural weaknesses—including overly narrow product portfolios and insufficient competitiveness of low-end production capacity. During the industry adjustment phase, they proactively scaled back low-margin capacity to concentrate resources on premium businesses—ultimately triggering steep sales contractions. Overall, small- and medium-sized paint enterprises continue to struggle with growth and face ongoing market share erosion, while industry-leading enterprises leverage advantages in production capacity, distribution networks, supply chain resilience, and technological capabilities to steadily capture market share—further consolidating industry resources at the top. The traditional growth model—reliant on real estate-driven demand and scale-based expansion—is gradually losing efficacy. Instead, competitiveness in specialized niches, localized service capabilities, and R&D strength have become core drivers of sales growth, marking the industry’s formal entry into a new stage of structural competition. Accelerated Domestic Substitution and Erosion of Foreign Brands’ Market Share According to incomplete statistics from Coating Purchasing Network, among the Top 100 Paint Sales Enterprises in 2025, the combined sales volume of the 13 foreign enterprises totaled 15.037 million tons—a 12% year-on-year decline—and accounted for 60.2% of the Top 100’s aggregate sales volume, down 2 percentage points from 2024. Although domestic substitution is accelerating and some homegrown paint enterprises are rising steadily, reliance on foreign paint enterprises remains severe in high-end markets. Among foreign enterprises posting stable or positive growth, Sherwin-Williams achieved a 2% sales increase, demonstrating strong resilience in its industrial and transportation coatings businesses; BASF Coatings rose 6%, sustaining its high-end market share through technological moats in OEM automotive coatings and premium industrial coatings; PPG Industries and Musashi Paint maintained flat sales, supported by high-barrier, stable-competition segments such as aerospace and specialty industrial coatings. Foreign enterprises suffering sales declines were predominantly focused on residential architectural and real estate–supporting segments. Nippon Paint’s sales plunged 16%; Shinko Chemical Research Institute tumbled 32%—traditional home decoration coating markets continue to be squeezed by domestic brands. KCC (Korea Kumho Petrochemical) and Sika declined 20% and 19%, respectively, hit by dual pressures from the property downturn and shrinking demand for waterproofing and architectural decorative coatings. AkzoNobel and Kansai Paint posted modest declines, as weakness in decorative coatings could not be fully offset by their industrial coatings businesses.

Coating Finance | PPG Posts 'Zero Growth' in 2025—Stock Price Slips! Emergency 'Cost Scalpel' Initiative Launched—Can It Turn Things Around This Year?

On profitability, the company reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.34 and adjusted EPS of $1.51—slightly below the market consensus expectation of $1.58. However, net income surged dramatically, rising from $2 million ($0.01 per share) in the prior-year period to $302 million. During this quarter, PPG continued returning capital to shareholders, completing approximately $100 million in share repurchases. In Q4, PPG’s three core business segments delivered differentiated growth—with standout performance in key areas. The Global Architectural Coatings segment posted net sales growth of 8% to $951 million. Higher selling prices and favorable currency effects more than offset the impact of divesting its Russian architectural coatings business. EBITDA rose 14% to $164 million, with margins improving to 17.2%. Regionally, organic sales in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region grew at a high single-digit rate; retail sales in Mexico remained robust, and project-related sales continued recovering—though European volume declines partially offset overall growth momentum. The Performance Coatings segment recorded net sales growth of 5% to $1.32 billion, with organic sales up 3%. Highlights across sub-segments included record-high aerospace coating sales, delivering double-digit organic growth; protective and marine coatings achieved sales growth for the 11th consecutive quarter, with marine sales in the Asia-Pacific region outpacing broader market growth. However, demand for automotive refinish coatings declined by a high single-digit percentage, partially offsetting these gains. Segment EBITDA declined 4% year-on-year, with margins slipping to 21.1%, primarily due to lower volumes and increased investment spending tied to growth initiatives. The Industrial Coatings segment posted net sales growth of 3% to $1.64 billion, with volumes up 5%, driven mainly by market share gains. Sub-segment performance outpaced industry averages: automotive OEM coatings net sales rose 6%, and packaging coatings achieved double-digit organic sales growth. Segment EBITDA rose 6% year-on-year, with margins slightly improved over the prior year—driven primarily by higher volumes and productivity enhancements. Tim Knavish, PPG Chairman and CEO, stated: “Our fourth quarter delivered our strongest organic growth of the full year—up 3%—driven by contributions from both volume and price, with volume growth achieved across all regions.” For the full year, double-digit growth in aerospace, protective, and marine coatings—as well as high-single-digit growth in packaging coatings—supported the company’s steady development. Notably, the Performance Coatings segment achieved new highs in both sales and earnings.