PPG Targets Data Center Coatings Boom
The Pittsburgh coatings maker expects paint sales to data centers to triple in 2026 from 2025 levels.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Data Centers
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PPG, a 143-year-old Pittsburgh company, expects its paint sales to data centers to triple this year from last year. The company's total sales rose 7% to $4.5 billion in its most recent quarter, while data centers account for only a low-single-digit share of sales in two of its segments.
Why it matters
Data center construction is driving demand for specialized protective coatings, and PPG is positioning its products to be specified early in projects. Sherwin-Williams also reported protective and marine sales rising by a midteens percentage from a year earlier, helped by data center construction.
PPG's projection of tripled data center paint sales is a company forecast, not a reported result, and the filing does not break out the dollar value of those sales. The projection is compared with its 2025 base, while the company's total sales rose 7% to $4.5 billion in the latest quarter.
The players
PPG Industries
PPG Industries is a Pittsburgh-based coatings and specialty materials company founded in 1883 as the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company.
Sherwin-Williams
Sherwin-Williams is a major American paint and coatings manufacturer that reported protective and marine sales growth helped by data center construction.
The details
PPG rolled out a data center package in April at a trade show in Washington, covering steel fireproofing, rust-resistant primers, anti-static flooring, and coatings that block electrical interference. The company makes coatings for more than 75 data center parts, including security camera housings and cooling equipment, and its flagship product Steelguard 951 can protect steel for up to four hours.
Timeline
PPG began in 1883 as the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company.
PPG sold its US and Canadian paint-store business, including the Glidden brand, in 2024.
PPG rolled out its data center package at a Washington trade show in April.
PPG expects its data center paint sales to triple this year from last year.
The Tech Race
PPG's data center push follows the rapid build-out of AI-driven infrastructure, where builders face tight timelines and need protective coatings specified early. Data centers go up in about a third of the time a typical infrastructure project takes, which raises the premium on coatings that can be approved and applied quickly.
For the average person, the effect of this shift is indirect, showing up in the cost and speed of building the data centers that support online services. Coatings for these facilities can cost $3 million to $8 million per building, a figure that shapes how quickly capacity gets built.
The takeaway
Construction demand from data centers is opening new markets for coatings makers, and suppliers that get their products approved early in project planning are best positioned to capture it. Watch whether PPG's tripling projection holds as the year progresses.
Further reading
Explore more on data centers to see how construction demand is reshaping suppliers like PPG.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Times of India.
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