French paint industry invests in capacity and circular materials as market contracts
French paint and coatings manufacturers are modernising plants and developing lower-impact products despite a 1.8% decline in market value between 2024 and 2025. PPG and AkzoNobel have announced €62 million in combined investment, while Cromology and BASF are introducing a recycled-content acrylic binder.
Investment continues despite a weaker market
France’s paint and coatings industry is accelerating plant modernisation, product development and circular-material initiatives even as domestic demand remains under pressure. The sector supplies construction, automotive, aerospace, manufacturing, packaging and infrastructure customers, making its performance relevant across several industrial value chains.
According to Green et Vert, the industry represented by FIPEC generates nearly €4.93 billion in revenue and employs 20,000 people. FIPEC has close to 150 member companies, accounting for about 95% of the sector’s manufacturers. Yet the French market for paints, wood stains, coatings and varnishes declined by 1.8% in value between 2024 and 2025, reaching €2.816 billion.
The contraction has not stopped major producers from committing capital. Their projects focus less on adding volume than on improving productivity, flexibility, logistics and the environmental performance of products. This reflects the central challenge facing a mature market: manufacturers must upgrade capacity while managing weak end-user demand and closely watched production costs.
PPG and AkzoNobel modernise French plants
PPG has announced €40 million of investment at its Ruitz plant in Pas-de-Calais and its Moreuil facility in Somme, both in Hauts-de-France. The programme will modernise production equipment, increase industrial flexibility and bring logistics operations in-house. It is also expected to create 39 jobs by the end of 2027. The US group plans further research and development spending, including work on coatings that require less energy.
AkzoNobel is investing €22 million at Montataire in Oise. The company intends to modernise the facility and develop it into a major platform serving the European market. The project comes as AkzoNobel reports contraction in France’s decorative-paint market and greater cost pressure.
AkzoNobel operates several facilities in France and sells industrial coatings under the Interpon, International and AkzoNobel brands. Its portfolio includes powder coatings and products for anticorrosion, marine and aerospace applications. The Montataire project therefore forms part of a broader French manufacturing presence rather than a stand-alone investment.
Recycled inputs reshape product development
Raw materials are becoming another focus of competition. In May 2026, Cromology and BASF announced that an acrylic binder incorporating feedstock derived from the chemical recycling of end-of-life tyres would be used in selected Tollens interior wall paints. BASF’s Acronal Ccycled binder applies a mass-balance approach and is being commercialised in the Tollens Maxiline+ range.
Cromology operates five research laboratories and nine production sites and employs 3,100 people across seven countries. Its project with BASF shows how raw-material origin, carbon footprint and circularity are joining coverage, resistance and service life as product criteria. These attributes may become increasingly important for professional buyers seeking to reduce the environmental impact of buildings and industrial operations.
Other manufacturers are pursuing related technologies. Sherwin-Williams develops industrial coatings ranging from low-VOC water-based formulations to powder coatings. Its Tournus site employs more than 160 people and houses two European laboratories.
Scale and technology drive consolidation
Competitive pressure also extends beyond France. Europe’s coatings market includes PPG, AkzoNobel, Sherwin-Williams, BASF, Axalta, Jotun and Hempel, alongside European and French companies such as Cromology, V33 and DAW. AkzoNobel and Axalta are preparing a merger that is expected to close in late 2026 or early 2027, subject to the required approvals.
The combination highlights the growing importance of scale, investment capacity and technology. For French producers, the current projects point towards a strategy based on efficient local manufacturing, more secure supply arrangements and products that use fewer resources. With market volumes under pressure, competitiveness is likely to depend increasingly on plant performance and differentiated formulations rather than broad-based demand growth.