Chemcoaters

What Chemcoaters does

Chemcoaters is a privately held waterborne coil coating company founded in 2001 and headquartered in Gary, Indiana. The company operates a custom-designed coating line and serves steel producers, service centers, and manufacturers across transportation, appliance, construction, agriculture, and steel production segments. Its customer base includes Nucor, U.S. Steel, Cleveland-Cliffs, Steel Dynamics, ATI, Whirlpool, Electrolux, Vollrath, Honda, Cummins, Navistar, and Clark Dietrich, among others.

The company's core technology is waterborne coil coating chemistry, anchored by InterCoat® ChemGuard, a patented, RoHS-compliant corrosion-inhibiting coating that uses proprietary InterReactive® technology to form permanent molecular bonds with zinc and zinc-alloy substrates, delivering self-healing corrosion protection. Third-party testing confirms G30 coated with ChemGuard outperforms G235 with hexavalent chromium passivation. The product portfolio also includes Dry Film Lubricant (DFL) for metal stamping without wet lubricants, FeGuard for hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel, thin-film acrylics and passivations, and reclamation services. Roughly 25% of staff are dedicated to R&D, with combined industry experience exceeding 150 years.

Chemcoaters earns revenue through two streams: toll processing fees for cleaning, coating, and slitting metal coils at its Gary facility, and proprietary coating product sales, including in-line ChemGuard application at customer welded tube operations. The go-to-market is enterprise field sales supported by active participation in six industry trade shows annually (IPPE, Work Truck Week, BUILD25, SMU Steel Summit, RE+, MetalCon), with technical whitepapers and case studies driving mid-funnel engagement. Custom Engineering and an Accelerator Program support co-development with strategic customers. The company is ISO 9001:2015 certified (achieved 2017 with zero non-conformities) and was certified as a Great Place to Work in 2022.

Name

Chemcoaters

Legal name

Chemcoaters LLC

Website

https://chemcoaters.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Chemcoaters is a privately held waterborne coil coating company that develops and applies proprietary corrosion-inhibiting and dry-film lubricant coatings for steel producers, service centers, and manufacturers serving transportation, appliance, construction, and agriculture industries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Metal Coil Coatings

NAICS

Paint and Coating Manufacturing (32551), Metal Coating, Engraving (except Jewelry and Silverware), and Allied Services to Manufacturers (332812)

SIC

Paints, Varnishes, Lacquers, Enamels & Allied Prods (2851), Coating, Engraving & Allied Services (3470)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYIMAEAGAB

Industrial & Protective Coatings

Industrials, Manufacturing & Construction/Chemicals & Industrial Materials/Coatings, Adhesives & Sealants

SECONDARYIMAIAKAB

Industrial Protective Coatings (Steel/Concrete/Equipment)

Industrials, Manufacturing & Construction/Industrial Services & Facility Operations/Industrial & Commercial Painting, Coating & Surface Treatment

Keywords

• Waterborne coil coating
• Corrosion protection coatings
• Steel coil processing
• Dry film lubricants
• Galvanized steel solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Gary

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Coil Coating Processing Services: Chemcoaters operates as a toll processor/coater, providing coating services to steel producers, service centers, and manufacturers. The company cleans, brushes, coats, and slits steel, aluminum, stainless and other metal products. Revenue is generated through processing fees for applying InterCoat ChemGuard, dry film lubricants, passivations, and other coating services.
2. Coating Product Sales: Sale of proprietary coating products including InterCoat ChemGuard formulations, dry film lubricants, and specialty coatings. Products can be applied at Chemcoaters facility or, in some cases like welded tube applications, applied in-line at customer facilities.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Chemcoaters operates as a toll processor and formulator of waterborne coil coatings, providing corrosion-inhibiting coatings, dry film lubricants, passivations, and reclamation services applied to steel, aluminum, stainless, and other metal coil substrates. From its Gary, Indiana facility, the company cleans, brushes, coats, and slits metal coil products for steel producers, service centers, and manufacturers across transportation, appliance, construction, and agriculture industries. Its proprietary InterCoat ChemGuard and FeGuard lines enable zinc-lightweighting and molecular-level corrosion protection.

Product overview

Chemcoaters is a premier waterborne coil coating company offering a portfolio of engineered steel performance solutions. The core product lineup includes InterCoat® ChemGuard (a corrosion-inhibiting coating with molecular bonding technology), Dry Film Lube (temporary film lubricants for metal forming), FeGuard (corrosion protection for hot/cold-rolled steel), and TFAs & Passivations (thin-film acrylic treatments). These products are complemented by service offerings including Reclamation (coil restoration), Custom Engineering (bespoke problem-solving), and an Accelerator Program (rapid development partnership). The company operates from Gary, Indiana serving steel producers, service centers, and manufacturers across agriculture, appliance, construction, and transportation industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 99.5% first-pass yield rate in coating operations
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Local Partner (Welded Tube)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Developed specialized InterCoat ChemGuard formula for welded tube applications in conjunction with a local partner for in-line application. First application of InterCoat ChemGuard outside steel coils and sheet since its 2010 inception.
• Leading BIW Chemistries SuppliercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Joint testing and approval of InterCoat ChemGuard for Body-in-White automotive applications with a major BIW chemistries supplier and transportation OEM. Studies showed no interference with bath chemistries in cleaning or pretreatment sections.
• Established Coatings ManufacturerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership announced for marketing a new coating system combining InterCoat ChemGuard with proprietary paint, offering cost-effective corrosion protection without traditional pretreatments or expensive primers.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• AkzoNobel: AkzoNobel manufactures specialty and industrial coatings, including coil and protective coatings for construction and appliance markets. Comparable as a broad incumbent with overlapping product portfolio and end-market exposure.
• Axalta Coating Systems: Axalta is a major global coatings company with industrial and refinish product lines including coil and electrocoat coatings for automotive and industrial OEMs. Comparable as an incumbent player in industrial and automotive protective coatings, with deeper geographic reach than Chemcoaters.
• PPG Industries: PPG is a global industrial coatings manufacturer supplying protective, automotive, and coil coatings to OEMs and steel mills. Comparable as an incumbent in industrial protective coatings, though PPG is much larger and serves broader markets including coil, automotive OEM, and marine protective coatings.
• Henkel: Henkel's Adhesive Technologies division sells industrial coatings, surface treatments, and metal-forming lubricants used by automotive OEMs and steel processors globally. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering overlapping functional chemistries (lubricants, anti-corrosion, pre-treatments) into the same end markets Chemcoaters serves.

Regional players

• Daetwyler (Coating Solutions): Daetwyler's coatings division serves industrial customers with specialty surface treatments and elastomer-based coating solutions, primarily in European and Asian markets. Comparable as a regional player in industrial surface and protective coatings, with technology overlap in customized specialty formulations.

Direct peers

• Wieland Metal Services: Wieland operates a network of coil processing and coating service centers across North America, offering slitting, cut-to-length, and protective coatings on copper, brass, and specialty metal substrates. Comparable to Chemcoaters as a toll processor serving industrial OEMs with value-added metal finishing.
• Precoat Metals: Precoat Metals is one of the largest independent toll coil coaters in North America, applying protective, decorative, and functional coatings to coiled metal substrates for similar end markets including construction, automotive, and appliance. It is the closest direct analogue to Chemcoaters' toll-processing business model.
• Nivert Metal Process: Nivert Metal Process is a US-based toll processor offering coil coating, slitting, and cut-to-length services for galvanized and cold-rolled steel. Direct competitor in the regional toll-coating niche serving similar service-center and OEM customers.

Emerging players

• Metallic Bonds (Metal Coatings & Lubricants specialists): Metallic Bonds is a US-based supplier of dry-film lubricants and anti-corrosion coatings serving stamping and metal-forming customers. Comparable as an emerging niche player with overlapping product offerings in dry-film lubricants for metal forming operations.
• Chemetal: Chemetal supplies coated and laminated metal products for architectural and interior applications, including specialty metallic coatings. Comparable as an emerging niche player focused on coated metal substrates for design-driven and functional applications.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/chemcoaters
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/chemcoaters

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Chemcoaters