High Performance Pigments Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Organic, Inorganic), By Application (Coatings, Plastics, Inks, Cosmetics), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2022

Report Overview

The global high-performance pigments market size was worth USD 5.4 billion in 2019 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.3% over the forecast period. Growing demand for automotive coatings is presumed to play a key role in positively shaping the growth. As the name suggests, high-performance pigments are characterized by superior properties when compared to their conventional counterparts. These superior characteristics include high resistance to heat and light, enhanced fastness, and longer operational life, making them useful for various applications across multiple industries.

Automotive coatings is the key application area and hence it critically influences the demand for high-performance pigment. Rising demand for automotive coatings owing to increased automotive sales in the recent past has had a positive impact on the growth. Industry participants have been taking several key strategic initiatives such as capacity expansion and introducing superior high-performance products with an aim to serve the customer’s increasing needs.

However, such high-performance products are priced much higher when compared to their conventional counterparts. Such price disparity is anticipated to remain a key challenge for the market participants over the forecast period. Volatile raw material prices are also expected to pose threats to industry profitability.

Developed countries are expected to witness rapid growth in demand over the forecast period across numerous industries. Such robust growth prospects promise ample growth opportunities to the companies in the near future. Technological innovation related to superior products with enhanced properties is also estimated to offer abundant opportunities for growth and development.

Economies such as China and India are presumed to play a critical role in shaping the Asia Pacific high-performance pigments market over the forecast period. Rising disposable income and population have resulted in high demand for automobiles in the region. As automotive coatings is a major application for the market, rise in automobile demand is presumed to complement growth and development in near future. Developed regions are anticipated to witness moderate growth when compared to the developing regions.

Furthermore, growing environmental awareness and stringent regulatory frameworks are expected to result in high demand for high-performance pigments in the near future. Customer preference for bio-based products has resulted in industry participants taking several key initiatives to develop high-performance pigments from completely bio-based products. Such initiatives and technological advancements are expected to offer ample growth opportunities for the market participant over the forecast period.

Economic slowdown across the globe had hampered the market growth in the recent past. However, with a positive economic outlook over the forecast period, the market is presumed to witness rapid growth. These high-performance pigments are exposed to several regulations that govern their usage and raw materials. These regulations are established to safeguard customer interest and environmental issues.

High-performance Pigments Market Trends

Automobile industry is a major end-use market for the high performance pigments industry. Automotive demand has witnessed brisk growth in the recent past and is expected to continue this trend over the forecast period. Growing population and increasing disposable income, especially in the developing regions such as Asia Pacific, the Middle East & Africa, and Latin America are presumed to fuel automotive demand over the forecast period.

High performance pigments are characterized by several superior properties that distinguish them from their conventional counterparts. These properties include enhanced light fastness, weather fastness, longer operational life, better resistance to natural elements as well as chemicals, high heat stability, low solubility, and reduced migration. These properties make them imperative for a host of applications across a diverse range of industries, particularly the outdoor applications. Major outdoor applications include automotive coatings and exterior coatings for buildings. Other superior characteristics include fluorescence, luminescence, and photo chromatic.

Such superior properties can be segregated into different categories which include effectiveness, economy, and ecology. Effectiveness includes the technical performance of these pigments when used across various applications. Economy incorporates multiple financial benefits for the customer. Though these high performance pigments are costlier than the conventional pigments, they require higher initial investment, and they pay off in the long run due to multiple factors. These factors include lower maintenance, longer operational life, and reduced repeat coatings. Ecology includes lower toxicity and reduced impact on the environment.

Stringent environmental regulations and growing concerns have resulted in pigments being exposed to a host of regulations. These regulations are put in place to safeguard the environment as well as customers’ interest. High performance pigments are expected to be low on toxicity and have a comparatively low impact on the environment. These pigments are essential for applications that require high performance.

High performance pigments are priced higher than their conventional counterparts. Such a price disparity is due to the superior properties offered by these pigments as well as higher production cost. This difference in price is presumed to negatively impact the high performance pigments market over the forecast period especially in developing regions such as Asia Pacific, Central & South America, and the Middle East & Africa. Though these markets offer ample growth opportunities for the industry participants, they are extremely price sensitive. Such developing regions are also characterized by lenient regulatory framework, which results in end-use industries opting for conventional pigments instead of high performance pigments to cut costs.

These pigments are developed after extensive R&D and require superior quality raw materials, and hence, they have a high price. The recent shift in consumer preferences towards bio-based products along with growing awareness regarding the hazardous effects of pigments has resulted in bio-based pigments witnessing a robust demand. Such a trend is expected to continue in the near future. Companies have taken several initiatives to develop environment-friendly and superior products, which in turn drive up their cost. The massive R&D initiative expenditure is passed on to the customers.

Product Insights

High-performance pigments are categorized into organic and inorganic based on their origin. Organic pigments are derived from natural sources and contain carbon chains and carbon rings. These can be further classified into synthetic and natural segments. Synthetic ones are derived from petroleum products while the natural ones are derived from plant and animal sources.

Inorganic pigments, which are usually precipitated metallic salts, are not carbon-based. The inorganic pigments led the global market in the recent past and are presumed to continue the dominance over the forecast period. However, organic pigments have been penetrating the market at a rapid pace and are expected to experience a higher growth rate compared to inorganic products.

Emerging markets such as Asia Pacific and Middle East are characterized by the high demand for inorganic pigment in the recent past while developed regions such as Europe and North America have displayed high demand for organic pigments.

Application Insights

The key application segments include coatings, plastics, cosmetics, and inks. Coatings emerged as the leading application segment and accounted for over half of the global demand in 2015. Automotive coating is a key application under coatings segments, followed by other applications such as industrial and decorative coatings.

Plastic is projected to witness strong growth over the forecast period. However, applications such as inks are anticipated to witness sluggish growth owing to factors such as rapid digitization in both developed as well as developing regions. Stringent regulations related to food contact applications are expected to further hamper the growth, particularly for inorganic pigments.

Regional Insights

Europe led the global market for high-performance pigments with demand share exceeding 32.7% in 2019 attributed to high demand from multiple industries. Developed regions are less price-sensitive when compared to developing regions. Such a trend has resulted in developed regions dominating the global market.

The markets in developed regions such as North America and Europe are saturated in terms of applications. However, strong environmental concerns and stringent regulations are projected to fuel the market in these regions and offer ample growth opportunities to the industry participants.

Europe's automotive industry has also shown signs of recovery which are expected to further strengthen the regional demand. North America market is primarily driven by the growth of automotive coatings in U.S. Hence, it is expected to remain a major market for the key industry participants.

Emerging markets of Asia Pacific and Latin America are estimated to witness rapid demand growth over the forecast period. Rapid expansion of the automotive industry in China, India, Thailand, and Indonesia is expected to lead growth for the regional market. Concerns remain for the Brazilian economy which still remains soft.

Developing regions such as Asia Pacific are presumed to witness strong demand growth in the near future and provide ample opportunities for market development. Economies such as China and India are anticipated to lead the regional market over the next seven years. Change in consumption patterns coupled with stringent regulations governing the high performance pigments are presumed to critically impact the market in the near future. Developed regions are expected to witness a slightly moderate growth rate due to market saturation.

Changing customer preferences towards superior products in the recent past have resulted in companies investing heavily in R&D initiatives to develop superior pigments. Rapid urbanization and industrialization, particularly in the developing regions such as Middle East & Africa, Asia Pacific, and the Central & South America, is presumed to be a driver for this market. These developments have increased the demand in the recent years and are presumed to continue this trend over the forecast period.

High-performance Pigments Market Insights

The market was characterized by a few major companies in the past led by BASF, Clariant, and Ciba where these three companies enjoyed their patented high-performance pigment technologies. However, that scenario has completely changed and numerous new industry participants have emerged in the global platform.

Companies have been taking certain strategic initiatives to increase their production capacity and to enhance their product portfolio to cater to the growing demand, particularly in the developing regions. Prominent market participants include Sun Chemical, Clariant, BASF, Ferro, Vijay Chemical Industries, Meghmani Pigments, Sudarshan Chemical Industries Ltd., Voxco Pigments and Chemicals Pvt. Ltd., Horsta Chemicals Zhuhai Co. Ltd., Heubach, DIC Corporation, Trust Chem and Eckart GmbH, Merck Performance Materials, and Lansco Colors.

High-performance Pigments Market Report Scope 

Global High-performance Pigments Market Segmentation

This report forecasts revenue and volume growth at the global, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends and opportunities in each of the sub-segments from 2012 to 2022. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global High-performance pigments market report on the basis of product, application and region:

• High Performance Pigment Product Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons, Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022)

  • Organic

  • Inorganic

• High Performance Pigment Application Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons, Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022)

  • Coatings

  • Plastics

  • Inks

  • Cosmetics

  • Others

• High Performance Pigment Regional Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons, Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022)

  • North America

    • U.S.

  • Europe

    • Germany

    • France

    • UK

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • India

  • Middle East & Africa

  • Central & South America

    • Brazil