Nippon Paint Marine expands into Vietnam

Nippon Paint Marine is expanding its coatings production to Vietnam, in response to the growing market demand for its marine coatings, following Vietnamese government investment in the country’s shipbuilding sector.

Vietnam’s maritime industry has been declared a priority sector by the Vietnamese Government and is on track to become one of the largest shipbuilding and ship repair hubs in Asia. The demand for marine coatings across both domestic and foreign shipping fleets that are dry-docked in Vietnam is projected to grow significantly over the next few years. Over the past two years, drydock capacity has doubled in response to demand shifting from China due to COVID-19 lockdowns, plus the growth of the country’s own domestic fleet.

“We have expanded our footprint in Vietnam to include marine coatings,” said Ee Soon Hean, General Director, Nippon Paint Vietnam. “Continued growth in the maritime sector is resulting in the expansion of all the major shipbuilding and repair hubs in the country. There are six large yards in the north, the same in the south and two in central Vietnam. Our research indicates that there are approximately 4,000 vessels that will require coatings, including new-builds and existing tonnage.”

Nippon Paint Marine (Vietnam) has already secured coatings contracts with several Vietnamese shipowners, including Vietnam Ocean Shipping (VOSCO), Truong Nguyen Transport Import Export Trading Ltd, Sellan Gas Company and its Group, VIMC Shipping Company (Vinalines.)

Nippon Paint’s established facilities in industrial zones in the north, south and central regions of Vietnam will begin producing the company’s range of marine anticorrosion and protective coatings imminently, with hull and antifouling products set to be added to production lines in the 2024/5 period.

“We estimate that the total demand for marine coatings from domestic owners alone could be worth US$35M in the medium term and even more when you consider the opportunity for foreign ship maintenance and repair in Vietnam, which continues to grow. We anticipate a 15-20% market share of the marine coatings market within the next five years,” Soon Hean said.

He added: “With our technical expertise and a local talent pool of more than 1,000 people, now is the right time to invest in Vietnam’s rapidly expanding maritime industry. We are ready to serve this market and the shipyards and owners here know us well.”

Do Quoc Vinh, Marine Coatings Business Manager, Nippon Paint Vietnam, said: “Vietnamese shipowners and yards can benefit from our locally produced, locally supplied coatings technology that is proven to save fuel, reduce emissions and increase service time whilst reducing idle time, application time and minimising operational and maintenance costs.”

Although parent company Nippon Paint has had a presence in the country since 1989, producing decorative and automotive coatings from production plants outside Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, the Vietnamese maritime industry has, until this year, been served by Nippon Paint Marine Singapore. Bringing on a dedicated, Vietnam-based team will enable Nippon Paint Marine to deepen its roots in the local market and grow its marine coatings business in the region.

Drydocked at Vietnam’s Pharung shipyard, VOSCO’s 9101 DWT container ship Fortune Freighter applied Nippon Paint Marine’s nanodomain structured self-polishing antifouling FASTAR XI®, in October 2022 for the first time.

A FASTAR I coating has also been applied to Truong Nguyen Sky, a 24,000 DWT new-builds bulker that Pharung shipyard is building for the Truong Nguyen Transport Import Export Trading. The VIMC bulkers VMIC Mighty and VMIC Brave have also had a FASTAR I coating applied.