Southeast Asia Adhesive Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends And Forecast (2025 - 2030)

Southeast Asia Adhesive Market Trends and Insights

Infrastructure-Led Construction Boom in Indonesia and Vietnam

Significant government budgets in Indonesia and Vietnam channel record volumes of cement, steel, and engineered panels into megaprojects such as the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3^{[1]Indonesia Ministry of Public Works and Housing, “2024 Infrastructure Budget Highlights,” pu.go.id}. Adhesives replace mechanical fasteners in tile setting, insulation, curtain wall, and modular precast elements, shortening on-site labor and improving airtightness. Contractors prefer water-borne acrylic and reactive polyurethane grades that comply with ASEAN Green Building VOC caps of 50 g/L. Prefabrication plants situated near Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City utilize two-component epoxies that cure in humid tropical climates without the need for ovens, allowing for a 24-hour turnaround of façade modules. 

E-Commerce-Driven Surge in Flexible and Sustainable Packaging

Online retail across Southeast Asia requires corrugate mailers, pouches, and easy-peel labels that rely on hot-melt and water-borne adhesives. Pressure-sensitive products, such as Avery Dennison’s CleanFlake, enhance PET recycling rates by detaching cleanly during wash cycles, enabling brand owners to meet recycling targets under the ASEAN Circular Economy framework^{[2]ASEAN Secretariat, “Circular Economy Framework,” asean.org} . Corrugate converters running Henkel Technomelt Supra 115 seal up to 120 cartons per minute, saving energy required by solvent types. Consumer willingness to pay a premium for eco-friendly packaging elevates margins for converters that certify bio-based or solvent-free lines. These trends collectively widen the addressable pool for sustainable grades within the Southeast Asia adhesive market.

Expansion of Hygiene and Medical Disposables Manufacturing

Indonesia and Thailand expand their diaper, sanitary pad, and wound dressing lines to include ISO 10993-compliant hot-melt and silicone adhesives. Nippon Shokubai’s upcoming superabsorbent polymer unit ensures raw material security for diaper makers, indirectly stimulating demand for pressure-sensitive adhesives formulated for skin contact safety. Thailand’s medical device exports grew in 2024, with silicone adhesives favored for atraumatic removal from fragile skin. Malaysia’s Medical Device Authority now requires full toxicology dossiers, raising the entry bar for small formulators but rewarding multinational suppliers with global safety data. New silicone capacity announced by Wacker Chemie in 2025 underpins supply to Southeast Asian converters. 

Regulatory Push Toward Low-VOC Water-Borne and Reactive Systems

Vietnam’s Law on Chemicals becomes effective January 2026, limiting industrial adhesive VOC content to 250 g/L and consumer products to 50 g/L. Singapore’s NEA enforces a 50 g/L cap for architectural uses and annual emissions reporting for facilities consuming more than 1 tonne of solvent, leading to the adoption of waterborne acrylics in flooring and joinery. Dow’s UCAR latex polymers allow zero-VOC construction adhesives that meet LEED and BREEAM criteria, although additional drying time in humid climates requires investment in forced-air tunnels. Harmonization under ASEAN’s circular-economy roadmap aligns member states toward recyclable mono-material packaging solutions, accelerating substitution away from solvent-borne chemistries.

Stringent VOC and Hazardous-Chemical Regulations

Mid-sized producers are now required to invest significantly per product line for reformulation, safety testing, and re-registration, all in response to new VOC threshold compliance mandates. Singapore’s mandatory emissions reporting adds annual administrative expenses, prompting some SMEs to outsource production or exit high-compliance segments. Water-borne systems solve VOC challenges but extend drying cycles, increasing production time unless dehumidification is installed, a barrier for cost-sensitive workshops. Harmonization under APEC facilitates cross-border trade, but varying phase-in periods create temporary arbitrage, complicating supply chain planning. 

Volatile Petrochemical Feedstock Prices

In 2024-2025, crude prices and propylene costs tightened margins. With raw materials accounting for up to 70% of adhesive manufacturing costs, formulators without long-term contracts are witnessing a swift decline in profitability. BASF's collaboration with Youyi Group underscores the importance of hedging via integrated value chains. Meanwhile, smaller independent players in the Southeast Asia adhesive market are turning to filler loading, a strategy that jeopardizes bond integrity and threatens customer loyalty.

Segment Analysis

By Resin: Polyurethane Gains on Automotive and Footwear Demand

Polyurethane achieved a 6.77% CAGR, the fastest among resins, as EV batteries and solvent-free footwear lines specify single-sided PU adhesives that eliminate VOC emissions. Acrylic stayed dominant with a 31.46% share owing to its balanced cost and performance in flexible packaging laminates and tile-setting mortars. Epoxy addressed structural niches, such as battery-pack assembly. SikaPower-4720 reaches a tensile strength of 25 MPa while curing at room temperature. Silicone volumes in medical devices increased, supported by Wacker’s new Asian capacity that meets ISO 10993 standards.

Intensifying sustainability pressure drives the development of bio-based polyurethanes derived from castor oil, while BASF’s butyl-acrylate supply agreement highlights feedstock security priorities. Polyurethane’s bonding of aluminum-to-carbon-fiber joints satisfies OEM lightweighting goals, enabling reduction in vehicle mass, thereby further expanding its role in the Southeast Asia adhesive market.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

By Technology: UV-Cured Systems Accelerate in Flexible Electronics

Water-borne chemistries retained a 42.37% share, supported by policy-driven substitution from solvent systems. UV-cured platforms expanded at a 6.68% CAGR as foldable displays and high-speed label lines benefit from instant tack and energy savings compared with thermal curing. Reactive two-component systems serve structural needs, and hot-melts dominate corrugate and furniture edge-banding, with Bostik’s low-stringing patent enhancing line efficiency.

Plant managers increasingly adopt UV-LED lamps that use less electricity than mercury arc and enable spot curing inside multilayer assemblies, opening new interior and electronics use-cases that uplift the Southeast Asia adhesive market. 

By End-User Industry: Automotive Outpaces as EV Assembly Scales

Packaging remained the largest consumer at 34.63% share, reflecting ongoing e-commerce growth and mandatory recyclability targets. Automotive adhesives, however, are on a 6.49% CAGR path, fueled by PT HLI Green Power’s cell lines and Thailand’s BOI-backed EV projects. Construction adhesives absorb budgets earmarked for highways and airports, while Vietnam’s construction market relies on epoxy and polyurethane structural grades.

Footwear manufacturing in Vietnam migrates toward solvent-free PU, aligning with EU customer audits. Healthcare, woodworking, aerospace, and electronics collectively round out demand, each with niche resin and technology requirements that keep the Southeast Asia adhesive market diversified.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

Geography Analysis

Indonesia led with a 28.41% share in 2024, anchored by infrastructure budget and localized production of superabsorbent polymers and EV cells that consume acrylic, epoxy, and polyurethane grades. Vietnam posted the swiftest expansion at 6.87% CAGR, propelled by electronics exports and an infrastructure pipeline that tightens demand for low-VOC, water-borne chemistries. Thailand’s EV project slate signals sustained growth in structural and thermal-interface adhesives surrounding battery packs.

Malaysia nurtures aerospace MRO and electronics assembly that require high-temperature silicones and flame-retardant epoxies; Tremco CPG’s enlarged facility supplies sealants for Kuala Lumpur’s commercial high-rises. The Philippines and Singapore occupy specialized niches: Manila’s electronics contract manufacturers consume UV-cured grades for micro-speaker bonding, while Singapore’s medical-device exporters specify ISO 10993-certified silicones for biosensors. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Brunei form the residual cluster, where adhesive demand tracks garment outsourcing and incremental roadbuilding.