Metal Surface Treatment Chemical Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the metal surface treatment chemical market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global metal surface treatment chemical market reached a value of nearly $3.97 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.52% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $3.97 billion in 2023 to $5.0 billion in 2028 at a rate of 4.69%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.37% from 2028 and reach $6.19 billion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from increasing demand for consumer electronics, growth in construction sector, rise in industrialization and growth in automotive sector. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period was fluctuation in global raw material prices.

Going forward, increasing urban populations, rising demand for sustainable or eco-friendly solutions, favorable government incentives and increasing focus on infrastructural development will drive the growth. Factor that could hinder the growth of the metal surface treatment chemical market in the future include high costs.

The metal surface treatment chemical market is segmented by chemical type into plating chemicals, conversion coatings, cleaning chemicals and other chemicals. The plating chemicals market was the largest segment of the metal surface treatment chemical market segmented by chemical type, accounting for 41.86% or $1.66 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the cleaning chemicals segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the metal surface treatment chemical market segmented by chemical type, at a CAGR of 5.59% during 2023-2028.

The metal surface treatment chemical market is segmented by product form into liquid and solid. The liquid market was the largest segment of the metal surface treatment chemical market segmented by product form, accounting for 61.90% or $2.46 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the liquid segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the metal surface treatment chemical market segmented by product form, at a CAGR of 5.21% during 2023-2028.

The metal surface treatment chemical market is segmented by application into electrical and electronics, construction, automotive, aerospace, packaging and other applications. The automotive market was the largest segment of the metal surface treatment chemical market segmented by application, accounting for 34.04% or $1.35 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the automotive segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the metal surface treatment chemical market segmented by application, at a CAGR of 5.45% during 2023-2028.

Asia Pacific was the largest region in the metal surface treatment chemical market, accounting for 45.68% or $1.81 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by North America, Western Europe and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the metal surface treatment chemical market will be Asia Pacific and South America where growth will be at CAGRs of 5.33% and 5.02% respectively. These will be followed by Middle East and Africa where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 4.68% and 4.36% respectively.

The global metal surface treatment chemical market is fairly fragmented, with a large number of small players in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 13.39% of the total market in 2023. The market fragmentation can be attributed to the presence of few small players in different geographies. BASF SE was the largest competitor with a 2.77% share of the market, followed by Oerlikon Group with 2.16%, MKS Instruments, Inc. (Atotech) with 1.52%, Element Solutions Inc (formerly Platform Specialty Products Corporation) with 1.47%, Dow Chemical Company with 1.33%, Sherwin-Williams Company with 1.08%, PPG Industries Inc. with 0.89%, Nippon Paint Holdings Co with 0.82%, Henkel AG & Co. KGaA with 0.74% and Quaker Chemical Corporation with 0.61%.

The top opportunities in the metal surface treatment chemical market segmented by chemical type will arise in the plating chemicals segment, which will gain $416.07 million of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the metal surface treatment chemical market segmented by product form will arise in the liquid segment, which will gain $711.31 million of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the metal surface treatment chemical market segmented by application will arise in the automotive segment, which will gain $411.81 million of global annual sales by 2028. The metal surface treatment chemical market size will gain the most in China at $298.65 million.

Market-trend-based strategies for the metal surface treatment chemical market include focusing on developing innovative products such as sustainable automotive coating solutions, focusing on developing innovative solutions such as chromium-free surface treatments and focusing on developing innovative products such as durable surface protection solutions.

Player-adopted strategies in the metal surface treatment chemical market include focus on enhancing its operational capabilities through the launch of new products and strengthening its market position through strategic acquisition.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the metal surface treatment chemical companies to focus on sustainable product innovation to drive market growth, focus on chromium-free surface treatments to enhance sustainability and efficiency, focus on durable surface protection solutions for enhanced market positioning, focus on cleaning chemicals to capitalize on market growth, focus on the liquid segment to drive growth, expand in emerging markets, focus on expanding distribution channels to reach new markets, focus on value-based pricing to enhance competitiveness, focus on targeted digital marketing to reach new customers, focus on strengthening industry partnerships to enhance brand credibility and focus on the automotive segment to drive growth.