United States. According to a study presented by kusumgar, Nerlfi & Growney, coating consumption in 2011 is projected at 1.4 billion gallons containing 7.8 billion pounds of solids, to be valued at $23 billion.
The industry peaked in 2006 and has only partially recovered from the lows of the 2008-2009 recession. In 2011, solid coatings are still 18% lower than the peak of 2006. An annual rate of increase of 1.5% is expected for solids coating through 2016.
The consumption of coatings in dollars is only 3% lower compared to 2006, due to the sharp rise in prices during the period 2010-2011. Escalating prices for coating raw materials have only been passed on to coating producers, and margins have been under pressure.
The architectural segment is the most important with some 3.9 billion pounds of solids for $9 billion expected to be consumed in 2011. New home production remains low and home sales have yet to recover to expected levels.
