Evonik introduces new waterborne epoxy curing agent for the shipping container industry

Shipping containers are the lifeblood of global trade. Almost every product, or components and parts for the manufacture of good and products that keep  the global economy running are transported by shipping containers carried on the seas and on the world’s railways. The shipping container industry has even been one of the biggest contributors to globalization.

China container manufacturers commit to waterborne coatings

Over 85% of the world’s total production of shipping containers are manufactured in China.  Over the past 15 years, China has continued to grow its market share and now dominates the global shipping container market.

Since 2018, in response to stringent environmental regulations in China to reduce the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions, all shipping container manufacturers in China had to to change their container production from solvent-based coatings, to the more environmentally friendly waterborne coatings.  

As the key  partners in this conversion, the coating suppliers are joining efforts to support the container manufacturers to achieve this objective by developing waterborne container coatings that  boast both environmental benefits alongside  the same (if not better than before) outstanding mechanical performance.

Evonik develops new waterborne epoxy curing agent in its newly upgraded Shanghai Innovation Park

Evonik officially launches Anquamine® 469, a new waterborne epoxy curing agent that has no detrimental impact on the environment and has been specifically designed to satisfy the most challenging  container coatings demands in terms of mechanical properties, workability and appearance.

Anquamine® 469 is the latest  member of Evonik’s impressive waterborne curing agent portfolio. It offers excellent adhesion curing performance under high temperatures in high humidity environment (perfect for China), ensures fast dry speed, offers  water and styrene putty resistance and a long pot life, which makes it ideal for the heavy industrial coatings exposed to the highly corrosive environment at sea.

This innovative new product was developed through the joint efforts from a cross functional team at the  Evonik Shanghai Innovation park. This newly upgraded Innovation park comprises activities of research, product development, process innovation, pilot plant testing facilities, application technology, analytical services and covers both regional and global R&D topics.  

“We are committed to developing eco-friendly products that support  the sustainable long-term development of China’s coating industry.” said Iris Zhen, Vice President of Evonik Crosslinkers, Asia Pacific, “The recent new product innovation is a perfect example to showcase how we directly answer the customers’ needs through our  regional innovation capabilities and investigating the downstream application trends.”