LEATHERHEAD, UK - The global market for functional and barrier coatings for paper and board was valued at $3,778 million in 2007, growing at 3.1 percent, and is expected to reach $4,561 million by 2014. Opportunities in the market are emerging in a number of high-growth regions and end-use sectors, according to a new study by Pira International.

 

The study, The Future of Functional and Barrier Coatings for Paper and Board, breaks down the market by product, end-use sector, region and country. It offers five-year forecasts to 2014. The study also provides an overview of technology developments, a competitive landscape analysis, and explores key drivers and trends.

 

According to the study, growth will be negative in many parts of the developed world in 2009 and into 2010, becoming positive again towards the end of that year. In the emerging economies of Eastern Europe and Asia, recent exceptional growth rates will fall in 2009 and 2010, but growth will again climb in late 2010 to 2014. However, this growth will not reach the same levels as has been seen in recent years. The effect of these emerging economies lifts the global market for functional and barrier coatings, providing a modest growth of 2.7 percent CAGR (compound annual growth rate) to 2014, when the market will be worth $4,561 million.

 

Functional and barrier coatings cover a broad spectrum of materials that are coated onto paper and board to provide a barrier of some sort to protect the materials inside or to enable the substrate to act as a suitable package for its contents. Although over one third of this market lies in liquid packaging, the market is much broader in scope and application.

 

According to the study, the fastest growing sector over recent years has been the pharmaceutical and healthcare market. Although sales of barrier coatings for paper and board are small in this sector, growth figures exceed the overall market. This is a result of growth in demand for a whole range of healthcare products, a generally aging population in both the developed world and in China, and an increasing interest in health and wellbeing.

 

The report predicts the slowest growth will be in the largest market, North America, at 0.2 percent. In contrast, with gross domestic product growth of over 10 percent in China, the Asian functional and barrier coatings market has seen double-digit annual growth. “Within China itself, certain markets have experienced growth of 20 percent or higher. Increasing consumption of milk and dairy products is creating huge opportunities for liquid packaging board and its functional and barrier coatings,” explained Publisher Adam Page. India is experiencing higher growth than China in some markets, although overall growth is lower. India is forecast to achieve similar, or possibly greater, growth rates than China within the next five to 10 years.

 

Central and Eastern Europe have also seen double-digit growth in recent years. According to the report, proximity to Western Europe will affect performance in the immediate future. Despite this, internal consumption is growing substantially, and although growth to 2014 is expected to be less than Asia, this is still predicted to be an exciting market.

 

The Future of Functional and Barrier Coatings for Paper and Board also examines a range of technical developments in the sector. It reports biotechnology as showing some exciting results, with polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) showing particular promise, and starting to gain a market presence. The development of new curtain coating systems is also creating opportunities for manufacturers to add up to 10 different coatings at the same time. This could open up opportunities for new types of coating materials designed especially for this form of coating. Further developments in nanotechnology, plasma, liquid crystal polymers, enzymes, SiOx and AlOx, water-based barrier coatings, and fluorochemicals are investigated in the study.