Growth Opportunities in the Global Aerospace Adhesives and Coatings Market, Forecast to 2024

Market is Driven by High Growth in the End-use Aerospace Industry and Stringent Regulations Demanding More Specific and Higher-priced Products

Aerospace is one of the key industries of leading economies and supplies to markets such as commercial aviation, defense aviation, and general aviation. Aircraft and related components and products that are in operation or are being manufactured require a variety of highly specific and durable adhesives and coatings for various applications on parts such exterior surfaces, structural parts, and cabin components. Such products are collectively referred to as aerospace adhesives and coatings in this study.

The aerospace adhesives and coatings market in this study is analyzed for end-industries including commercial aviation, defense, and general aviation. The major end-user types are original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO). Major chemistries involved in the formulation of coatings are polyurethane (PU) and epoxy along with fluoropolymers and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE); the chemistries found commonly in adhesives are epoxy, cyanoacrylate, acrylics, and PU. Adhesives are selected for an application based on a variety of requirements such as elasticity, toughness, corrosion resistance, conductivity, adhesion to various substrate types, resistance to fuels and other chemicals, stability under various temperature ranges and pressure conditions, and resistance to humidity. The requirements vary depending on the end application. Coatings formulations are required to be UV resistant with durable color retention for exterior applications, and greatly corrosion and chemical resistant for structural applications.

North America is the largest market for the aerospace sector with huge manufacturing and maintenance bases of leading OEMs such as The Boeing Company, Airbus, Bombardier, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the fastest growing market owing to the increasing demand for air travel by a large and growing urban population in the developing countries with increasing disposable incomes.

The market for aerospace adhesives and coatings is greatly impacted by mega trends such as robust growth of aircraft production due to increasing demand from commercial and defense aviation segments of the developing countries such as China, India, and those in Southeast Asia and Middle East. However, market growth may be restrained by a slowdown in new investments in commercial freight aircraft due to an expected decline in international trade in the coming few years.

The aerospace adhesives and coatings market is highly competitive among large and global manufacturers who are primarily established in the developed markets of North America and Europe. The competitive environment in the market is highly skewed towards the larger market participants who increasingly engage in mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures among themselves and also smaller companies to acquire new products, technologies, and market shares due to which the market points towards further consolidation in the coming few years.

Aerospace adhesives and coatings face regulatory pressures from organizations such as Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), and REACH that mandate the use of products with lower VOC emissions and eliminate the use of heavy metals. There is an increasing trend of customers moving to higher solids aerospace adhesives instead of solvent borne products for want of lower volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, better specifications, and durability. Manufacturers are increasingly investing in product development to enhance environmental sustainability and product efficiency. Customers are increasingly looking for products that are easier to apply, lighter in weight, and regulatory compliant.