As 2024 comes to an end, the UV light-curing coating industry has undergone many changes and developments this year. Against the backdrop of increasingly stringent global environmental protection requirements, the pursuit of higher efficiency in industrial production, and continuous breakthroughs in technological innovation, the UV light-curing coating industry has attracted much attention.

In this year, every link in the UV light-curing coating industry, from raw material supply to product application areas , from policy promotion and guidance to technological innovation and breakthroughs, to the quiet changes in the market structure , has pieced together a complete picture of the UV light-curing coating industry like a puzzle. For this reason, the UVEB platform specially presents the top ten summaries of the UV light-curing coating industry in 2024 for readers.

1 ：Environmental protection policies continue to increase, UV curing coatings usher in new opportunities

UV curing coatings are environmentally friendly and have low VOCs (volatile organic compounds) emissions , which meet the current global requirements for environmental protection and sustainable development. Since the implementation of the Environmental Protection Law in 2015 , governments at all levels in China have introduced a large number of policies and regulations to prevent and control air pollution and reduce volatile organic compound emissions. They have comprehensively rectified industries involving VOCs emissions, including coatings, and put forward clear plans and goals for VOCs emission reduction scales and the proportion of environmentally friendly coating products .

Against the background of the country's dual carbon goals , it is expected that favorable industrial policies for the industry will continue to increase in the future, which will prompt companies to adopt more environmentally friendly production processes and raw materials, and promote the green transformation of the entire UV-curing coatings industry chain .

Affected by environmental protection policies, domestic UV coating production has grown rapidly. According to statistics from the Radiation Curing Professional Committee of the China Photosensitive Society, domestic UV coating production has increased from 68,200 tons in 2015 to 194,200 tons in 2023, with a compound growth rate of 14.68%. This shows that with the promotion of policies, the market share of UV curing coatings has gradually increased, which also reflects its development potential under environmental protection requirements.

2：Technological innovation promotes the performance improvement of UV curing coatings

UV curing coating technology is a coating production technology that uses ultraviolet light (UV) as a curing energy source. The photoinitiator in the coating is irradiated with ultraviolet light to generate free radicals (or cations), thereby initiating the polymerization of double bonds in the polymer or monomer, and ultimately obtaining a polymer film with a relatively high molecular weight and certain mechanical properties.

It has the advantages of fast curing speed, low energy consumption, environmental protection and no pollution . Compared with traditional thermal curing coatings, it can cure quickly without heating, greatly shortening the production cycle and improving production efficiency. UV curing coating technology is widely used in furniture, flooring, automobiles, electronic products and other fields, providing efficient and environmentally friendly coating solutions for various industries.

Taking UV-LED light curing technology as an example, it has the characteristics of constant light intensity, excellent temperature control, portability and environmental protection , as well as relatively low procurement cost and almost zero maintenance cost, which has promoted the quality improvement and energy saving and consumption reduction of UV curing process.

For example, in the field of wood coating , the National Innovation Alliance for Wood Coatings and Painting of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration has carried out the application for the special project of UV-LED photocuring technology . The project participants include equipment manufacturers as well as upstream and downstream enterprises in the industry , aiming to promote the application of this technology.

However, this technology has also encountered some problems during its promotion, such as the impact of the real estate industry leading to a reduction in market share, a slowdown in environmental protection efforts in some regions, the high cost of upgrading from traditional UV curing industry to UV-LED light curing equipment , and the lack of product and technical standards. However, this also shows that technological innovation needs to overcome many difficulties in the process of actual application and promotion.

3 ：UV curing coatings are increasingly used in the electronics field

Due to its environmentally friendly and very short curing time features, the application of UV coatings in the electronics sector has grown significantly. Globally, the demand for high-performance coatings in end-user areas such as electronic and industrial coatings drives the rapid development of the UV coatings market.

According to industry data, in 2022, driven by the electronic products sector, China's UV coatings industry will see a rapid increase in market size to about 7.7 billion yuan , and China's UV coatings market will be the fastest growing , mainly driven by the growth of its manufacturing industry. The application of UV coatings in areas such as plastic coatings for electronic product parts is accelerating significantly.

The Asia-Pacific region is the most important and largest market for UV coatings in the world. China and Japan are the countries with the largest consumption in the region, playing an important role in the development of UV coatings in the electronics field.

4：Green supply chain construction has become an industry consensus

of the UV curing coating industry chain are mainly chemical products, including various resins, additives, photoinitiators , etc. In the entire industry chain, policies encourage the coating industry to develop in a green and low-carbon direction, which inevitably requires the construction of a green supply chain in all links from raw material supply to final coating .

In order to meet the increasingly stringent environmental protection requirements, reduce environmental pollution and emissions of air pollutants, the construction of a green supply chain will help promote the sustainable and healthy development of the entire UV curing coating industry.

From the perspective of upstream production in the industrial chain , from 2019 to 2023, the output of UV-curing coatings (monomers/oligomers/initiators) will increase from 363,600 tons to 534,000 tons, with a compound annual growth rate of approximately 10.1%. Among them , the output of monomers, oligomers, and initiators will be 242,000 tons, 231,000 tons, and 61,000 tons, respectively .

This shows that the upstream of the UV-curing coating industry chain is growing and developing in an overall trend. With the gradual improvement of supply stability, it is more conducive to the construction of a green supply chain, providing sustainable material supply for downstream industries and meeting the needs of the ever-expanding scale of the UV-curing coating industry.

5：International cooperation helps upgrade UV curing coating technology

Due to increasingly stringent emission reduction regulations, UV curing coatings are more accepted in regions such as Europe and North America , but they still need to be further developed in the Asia Pacific and MEA (Middle East and Africa) regions . This provides opportunities for international cooperation, and the technical advantages and market demands of different regions can complement each other.

For example, in the global market, some countries or regions may have advantages in the research and development of raw materials for UV-curing coatings, while other regions may have more achievements in the development of production equipment or application technology . Countries can promote the development of the entire UV-curing coating technology by cooperating and sharing technological achievements.

The author believes that international cooperation will help accelerate the upgrading of UV-curing coating technology. From a global perspective, UV curing coatings have gone through years of development from the initial single ultraviolet light source to the current multi-band, high-efficiency UV curing system . Exchanges and cooperation between different countries make technology dissemination faster and knowledge sharing more convenient.

This will help introduce new production concepts and process technologies, such as some innovative coating formulas or advanced curing equipment manufacturing technologies , which will significantly improve the level of domestic UV-curing coating technology. It may also lead to the exploration of more market segments and the discovery of new application scenarios, thus promoting the progress of the global UV-curing coating industry as a whole.

6 ：Intelligent manufacturing improves the production efficiency of UV curing coatings

The UV automatic spray painting line in intelligent manufacturing is a typical example of improving the production efficiency of UV curing coatings. The core of the UV automatic painting line is to use ultraviolet rays to cure the paint.

This technology has significant advantages over traditional heat curing or air drying methods : First, the UV curing process is extremely fast and can be completed in seconds, greatly reducing the processing time of the entire production line;

Secondly, due to the rapid curing process, the flow and sedimentation problems of the coating are effectively controlled, thereby improving the surface quality; in addition, the UV coatings it uses usually contain no or a lower proportion of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which helps reduce the impact on the environment.

In terms of automation, the UV painting line adopts advanced control systems and sophisticated spray gun technology to ensure uniform application and precise control of the paint, which not only improves production efficiency but also reduces human errors and ensures consistency in product quality.

As the manufacturing industry moves towards higher efficiency and sustainability, this advanced technology plays a key role in many manufacturing processes. For example, this change is reflected in the production process of Chuangweida, which improves the efficiency and consistency of the painting process and ensures a high-quality finish on the product surface. With the advancement of technology and the reduction of costs, it is expected to be applied in more manufacturing scenarios in the future, further improving the production efficiency of the entire UV curing coating.

7：The market share of environmentally friendly UV curing coatings continues to increase

UV curing coatings are low VOCs products with very little carbon emissions. The curing process uses ultraviolet light, and the energy consumption is significantly lower than that of traditional solvent-based products, water-based coatings and powder coatings. From the perspective of the product's own properties, it has a strong environmental advantage. With the increase in global environmental awareness and the continuous advancement of emission reduction policies, it has a favorable position in the "green competition" of the coatings market.

The domestic production of UV coatings has grown rapidly. From 2015 to 2023, its output has climbed from 68,200 tons to 194,200 tons . However, according to statistics, the total production of coatings by enterprises in the entire industry in 2023 will be about 35.12 million tons. In 2023, the proportion of domestic UV coatings in the total production of coatings is only 0.55%, which is relatively low.

However, compared with the international level, the proportion of international UV coating production to total coating production is an average of 2.8% - 3.2% . Although the domestic proportion is far lower than the international average, combined with its rapid growth trend, it can be predicted that the proportion of environmentally friendly UV curing coatings in the market will continue to increase in the future.

8 ：UV curing coatings have broad application prospects in the field of packaging and printing

UV curing coatings have unique advantages in the field of packaging and printing. They have a fast curing speed, which can quickly cure the coating on printed products and improve production efficiency ; low VOCs emissions meet environmental protection requirements and are suitable for packaging and printing , an industry that is closely related to people's lives.

As people's environmental awareness continues to grow on the consumer side, the demand for green packaging is also increasing. UV-curing coatings have great potential in meeting the low-pollution and high-efficiency production needs of the packaging and printing industry.

The application of UV curing coatings covers packaging printing, publication printing, commercial printing and other fields . For example, in some high-end cosmetic packaging, exquisite gift box packaging and other fields, UV curing coatings can provide bright, wear-resistant, scratch-resistant and other properties, improving the texture and visual appeal of the packaging. And with the improvement of technology, such as improving the adhesion to different packaging materials, its application in the field of packaging printing will continue to expand. From the current good application foundation, the application prospects in this field will be very broad.

9 ：The application of UV curing coatings in the field of architectural decoration is gradually expanding

Architectural decoration is another important application field of UV curing coatings. As people's requirements for the quality of living environment continue to increase, the application of UV curing coatings in the field of architectural decoration is gradually increasing.

In the field of architectural decoration, the application of UV curing coatings has gradually shown its advantages. Its good environmental performance is well adapted to the needs of interior decoration; its good wear resistance, corrosion resistance and weather resistance are of great significance for the decoration of building exterior walls, especially those that are exposed to the influence of the natural environment for a long time .

With the increasing demand for environmentally friendly and high-performance decorative materials in the building decoration industry, UV-curing coatings can meet the needs of different building decoration parts such as floors, wall panels, doors and windows .

For example, in wooden floor coating, UV curing coating can achieve seamless splicing , which is beautiful and elegant; in the field of wood coating, UV-LED light curing coating is used in the indoor part close to the residents , which can cure at a lower temperature to reduce possible safety hazards and reduce the impact of volatile substances on the living environment.

Although UV curing coatings may not be dominant in the architectural decoration market at present, the application of this coating in the field of architectural decoration is gradually expanding from its growing application projects and scenarios. This reflects the market's recognition of its performance. Enterprises should seize this trend, increase their efforts to develop the market in the field of architectural decoration , and increase their market share in this field. At the same time, enterprises should continue to improve the performance of their products to meet customers' demand for high-quality decorative materials .

10 ：The application prospects of UV curing coatings in the field of automobile manufacturing are promising

The performance requirements for coatings in the automotive manufacturing field are relatively complex, including good corrosion resistance, weather resistance , etc. In the automotive field, UV curing coatings can provide protection for various parts of the car and increase the beauty and durability of the parts.

At the same time, as the automotive industry pays more attention to environmental protection and sustainable development, low-VOCs emission products such as UV-curing coatings will be more in line with the demand trend of industrial development.

Judging from the overall industry trend, the automotive industry is huge and constantly developing, and is moving towards more environmentally friendly and high-performance materials. Combined with the properties of UV-curing coatings themselves and their successful experience in expanding their applications in other fields, it can be foreseen that they have good application prospects in the automotive manufacturing field.

In 2024, the UV light-curing coating industry has experienced many important changes and developments. From the continuous increase in environmental protection policies to the continuous breakthroughs in technological innovation , from the continuous expansion of the market to the gradual broadening of application areas, this year is full of challenges and opportunities.

We look forward to the new journey of the UV light-curing coating industry in the future, and believe that it will continue to play its unique advantages in environmental protection, high efficiency , etc. We hope that this review and analysis of the UVEB platform can help readers better understand the latest developments in this industry and provide valuable references for related companies and research institutions.