Aircraft Surface Treatment Market | Covid-19 Impact Analysis

Stratview Research’s voyage towards publishing extremely niche market subjects containing disruptive growth potential continues. This time, we have come up with another such market report on Aircraft Surface Treatment Market, a niche but fast-growing material in the aircraft industry. The report segments and analyzes the market in the most comprehensive manner in order to provide the different market angles, ensuring thoroughgoing market understanding and future market directions. All the major players are covered during the analysis with their current positioning and market shares.

The Aircraft Surface Treatment Market: Highlights

Aircraft components are exposed to harsh environments that may critically damage the surface of the components. Surface treatment plays a pivotal role in surviving these parts from such harsh environments. The purpose of surface treatment is not only to protect aircraft parts from such a challenging environment, but also protect them against oxidation, corrosion, wear, erosion, and fouling. In addition to these, surface treatment reduces energy, reduce product consumption, and reduce chemical waste at the time of coatings. In an aircraft, different types of surface treatments are applied on different substrates. For example, conversion coatings performed using the chromate or phosphate materials, are majorly used on the fuselage in order to prevent the formation of an oxide layer on the surface.

The overall market outlook for surface treatment in the aircraft industry seems salubrious with attractive growth opportunities lies in the entire ecosystem of the market. Stratview Research’s estimates suggest that the aircraft surface treatment market is projected to grow at mid-single-digit growth rate over the next five years to reach US$ 789.6 million in 2025. Both, organic as well as inorganic growth factors are taking the demand for surface treatment to the next level; however, organic growth factors remain powerful in driving the market. 

Boeing anticipated that there would be total deliveries of 44,040 commercial aircraft worth US$ 6.8 trillion in the global marketplace during 2019-2038. Asia-Pacific and North America would be the biggest demand generators with a combined share of 60.2% of the total commercial aircraft deliveries during 2019-2038. An expected healthy CAGR of 4.8% in air passenger traffic during 2019-2038 will chiefly drive the demand for commercial aircraft. This factor will create a sustainable demand for surface treatment in the foreseen period.

In addition to that, Boeing and Airbus had a combined total order backlog of 12,838 commercial aircraft by the end of September 2019. These huge pile of order backlogs of commercial aircraft will allow both airframers to roll out their aircraft continuously for the next eight years at current build rates. However, they have strategically been raising the production rates of their key commercial aircraft programs in order to deliver aircraft to their widespread clients in a shorter period of time. Also, they have been introducing fuel-efficient variants of their best-selling aircraft programs with the purpose to address the biggest requirement of the airline industry, which is the fuel-efficient aircraft.

Some additional but noteworthy driving factors are increasing M&As and rebranding activities at the airlines level, greater need for chemically treated surfaces with excellent durability and longer maintenance cycle, stringent government emission regulations, such as REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals) and Euro Zone Crisis 2012; and rising demand for eco-friendly surface treatment chemicals. Also, lucrative growth of the market is compelling industry trendsetters to increasingly perform strategic alliances with an aim to remain at the driving seat of the market.

To assist the industry stakeholders in building their profitable strategies efficaciously, the report segments the market in six ways in which aircraft type segmentation (Narrow-Body Aircraft, Wide-Body Aircraft, Regional Aircraft, General Aviation, Military Aircraft, and Helicopter) is exceptionally crucial.   Among different aircraft types, narrow-body aircraft is forecasted to maintain its dominance in the market over the next five years, propelled by increasing production rate of major aircraft, such as A320neo family; expected entry of upcoming aircraft, such as COMAC  C919; rising aircraft fleet; and higher M&A and re-branding activities in the airline industry.

The grounding of the B737Max because of two fatal accidents severally affected the order books as well as the production of the B737 program; however, the adverse impact of this trend on the demand for surface treatment chemicals for narrow-body aircraft would be short-haul. Long-term outlook still seems vigorous with an impressive growth trajectory for the market participants.

Analogously to the aircraft types, the report also provides a deep-dive analysis of the different chemicals used for surface treatment. A wide array of surface treatment chemicals including cleaners, deoxidizers and desumutters, conversion coatings, and paint strippers are used for surface treatment out of which cleaners hold the lion’s share and are also likely to grow at the above industry average growth rate by 2025. Cleaners are widely adopted by the airframe manufacturers, tier players, as well as airline in order to prepare the surface for pre-treatment as well as post-treatment.

Among different treatment types (pre-treatment, chemical milling, depaint and repaint, and engine maintenance), pre-treatment occupies the majority share in the wake of its higher usage in the aluminum surfaces. Pretreatment majorly includes three major steps: cleaning, etching and treatment and is generally performed before the bonding and painting of the components.

The relation of surface treatment type with the type of substrates is imperative for the market participants to expedite their growth process. Currently, a wide array of metals including aluminum, steel, nickel, and titanium are used in different aircraft applications based on the performance requirements. Aluminum is by far the most dominant material used in all legacy aircraft with fuselage and wings, the two largest applications, made with aluminum only. However, this trend is precipitously shifting with composite materials and titanium clearly seem the winners in the latest aircraft construction, because of their excellent track record and mechanical properties. Changing dynamics in materials is imprinting a huge impact on the demand for surface treatments as these treatments are preferably performed in metals. In the aircraft surface treatment market, titanium will remain the fast-growing material type in the coming five years, propelled by its exponential use in the newer variants of engines such as LEAP (powering B737 Max, A320neo, and C919) and GE9x (powering B777x).

In terms of region, North America is estimated to maintain its unassailable lead in the global market with the USA remains the engine’s propeller. The USA is the manufacturing powerhouse of the aerospace industry, creating a humongous demand for surface treatment chemicals in the country. Canada and Mexico are catching the attention of global companies, driven by their advantages. Airbus’ acquisition of Bombardier’s C-Series invigorated the entire supply chain of the Canadian market, whereas attractive government policies, high proximity to the USA, and low-labor cost are attracting tier players to open their plants in Mexico.  

However, the maximum growth opportunities continue to lie in Asia-Pacific, particularly in China, Japan, India, and Singapore. The key activities that happened in the aerospace industry in the past decade unquestionably infer that not only OEMs but also tier players are paving their investment straight to these Asian economies, primarily propelled by excellent growth in air passenger traffic well supported by the rising economy. The region is estimated to maintain its charm in years to come with some fade because of the deteriorating economic growth of China and India.

The supply chain of the market seems quite convoluted with the presence of many stakeholders including raw material suppliers, surface treatment chemicals suppliers, distributors, tier players, aircraft and engine OEMs, MRO companies, and airlines. Key aircraft surface treatment companies are Henkel AG & Company, KGaA.; Chemetall (BASF SA); PPG Industries, Inc.; Nihon Parkerizing Co., Ltd.; Solvay SA; Socomore, The Surface Company; Quaker Chemical Corporation; Oerlikon Group; and Fokker Technik (GKN Aerospace).

Research Methodology

This report offers high-quality insights and is the outcome of detailed research methodology comprising extensive secondary research, rigorous primary interviews with industry stakeholders and validation and triangulation with Stratview Research’s internal database and statistical tools. More than 1000 authenticated secondary sources, such as company annual reports, fact book, press release, journals, investor presentation, white papers, patents, and articles, have been leveraged to gather the data. We conducted more than 15 detailed primary interviews with the market players across the value chain in all four regions and industry experts to obtain both qualitative and quantitative insights.

Report Features

This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights into the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report:

• Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis
• Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter’s five forces analysis, SWOT analysis
• Market trend and forecast analysis
• Market segment trend and forecast
• Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, Product portfolio, New product launches, etc.
• Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities
• Emerging trends
• Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players
• Key success factors

The market is segmented into the following categories:  

Aircraft Surface Treatment Market, By Aircraft Type

• Narrow-Body Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Wide-Body Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Regional Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• General Aviation (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Military Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Helicopter (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)

Aircraft Surface Treatment Market, By Chemical Type

• Cleaners (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Deoxidizers & Desmutters (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Conversion Coatings (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Paint Strippers (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)

Aircraft Surface Treatment Market, By Treatment Type

• Pretreatment (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Chemical Milling (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Depaint and Repaint (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Engine Maintenance (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)

Aircraft Surface Treatment Market, By Application Type

• Fuselage (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Wings (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Engine (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Landing Gears (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)

Aircraft Surface Treatment Market, By Substrate Type

• Aluminum (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Titanium (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Steel (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)

Aircraft Surface Treatment Market, By Region

• North America (Country Analysis: The USA, Canada, and Mexico)
• Europe (Country Analysis: France, Germany, the UK, Russia and Rest of Europe)
• Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China, Japan, India, and Rest of Asia-Pacific)
• Rest of the World (Sub-Region Analysis: Latin America, the Middle East, and Others)

Report Customization Options

With this detailed report, Stratview Research offers one of the following free customization options to our respectable clients:

Company Profiling

• Detailed profiling of additional market players (up to 3 players)
• SWOT analysis of key players (up to 3 players)

Market Segmentation

• Current market segmentation of any one of the applications by substrate type

Competitive Benchmarking

• Benchmarking of key players on the following parameters: Product portfolio, geographical reach, regional presence, and strategic alliances

Custom Research: Stratview Research offers custom research services across sectors. In case of any custom research requirement related to market assessment, competitive benchmarking, sourcing and procurement, target screening, and others, please send your inquiry at [email protected].