Global Road-marking Paint Growth Opportunities

The Impact of the Top 3 Strategic Imperatives on the Road-marking Paints Industry

Disruptive Technologies

• Why: Historically, road-marking paints have been crucial in allowing human drivers to understand road rules; however, autonomous driving technologies are changing that. Swarming involves the collection and sharing of information about road conditions, infrastructure, and vehicles' surroundings, creating a dynamic and evolving dataset. Integrating this crowd-sourced data into autonomous driving capabilities enables self-driving cars to navigate challenging scenarios, including poorly marked urban and rural roads.
• Frost Perspective: Traditional road markings could be eliminated if top-tier auto manufacturers' adoption of crowdsourcing data technology for vehicle navigation increases. Growing concerns about road accidents and ongoing vehicle system enhancements will accelerate solution demand and technology utilization over the next 2 decades.

Competitive Intensity

• Why: Road-marking paint manufacturers use various approaches to address end-market needs. They develop products that offer enhanced durability, visibility, and environmental friendliness and offer a wide range of colors and application methods. Innovation that helps companies remain competitive includes embracing innovations, such as low-VOC paints and advancements in road-marking formulations, which boost reflectivity to meet evolving safety standards. This has become essential for both manufacturers and service providers, serving as a key marketing tool.
• Frost Perspective: Paint technology developments, including advancements in nanotechnology and water-borne formulations, will enable manufacturers to create high-performance road-marking paints. These innovative paints offer improved marking clarity and skid resistance. These developments will enable manufacturers to collaborate with DOTs, emphasizing building credible relationships to navigate the challenges of changing established specifications.

Geopolitical Chaos

• Why: Road-marking paints' approval process poses challenges, with varied standards across states and countries leading to costly and time-consuming approvals. State departments of transport (DOTs) in the United States prioritize procurement cost of road-marking paints, raw materials, and safety, often relying on bid processes without considering performance differences or conducting cost-benefit analyses.
• Frost Perspective: Manufacturers oppose the introduction of formulations that do not comply with current industry specifications, without considering their long-term benefits. New formulation innovation requires collaboration with DOTs, with an emphasis on building credible relationships to navigate the challenges of changing established specifications.

Segmentation

Road-marking Paints

Performance-based Markings

• Thermoplastics
  • Hydrocarbons
  • Alkyds
  • Hybrids
• Cold Plastics
  • Methyl methacrylate (MMA)

Paint-based Markings

Application Type

• Roads & Highways
• Parking Lots
• Airports
• Others (includes factory and field marking [lay-borarks, sports tracks])

Paint-based Markings

• Solvent-borne Markings
  • Acrylics
  • Alkyds
  • Chlorinated Rubber
• Water-borne Markings
  • Acrylics
  • Alkyds
• Two-component Markings
  • Epoxies
  • Polyurethane

Competitive Environment

Growth Drivers

• Increasing focus on construction and maintenance of roads, sports tracks, and runways will boost demand.
• New traffic regulations and rising road safety concerns will reduce accident rates and steer the focus on road-marking paints.
• Road-marking paint manufacturers will develop advanced products that support industry expansion.
• Surging production of autonomous vehicles will positively influence the demand for road-marking paints.