In the past ten years, the waterproofing industry has been struggling in a “low-price melee”: small factories compete for costs, large factories suppress prices, and profits are as thin as a cicada.
But now, the situation is quietly changing.
State-owned enterprises, represented by BNBM, no longer regard waterproofing as a “supporting business” of their main business, but push it to the “main C position”. With the combination of brand, technology and channels, they use the power of example to drive the industry from “a melee of low-price competition” to “the right path of high-quality development.”
How did low-price competition drag the industry into the quagmire?
In waterproofing projects, the cost of raw materials such as asphalt and polymer membranes accounts for a relatively high proportion.
When market prices are pushed to the limit, many small and medium-sized manufacturers can only reduce material thickness and construction procedures, resulting in frequent “leakage right after completion” situations and user trust plummeting.
Most companies have similar products and convergent services, and the only means of competition is price reduction. This has caused the industry’s overall profit margin to hover at a low level for a long time, insufficient R&D investment, and slow technology iteration.
It is difficult for consumers to tell which one is reliable, and they often “find the manufacturer only when something goes wrong.” Small manufacturers’ after-sales capabilities are limited, further deteriorating the industry’s reputation.
According to data from the China Building Waterproofing Association, from 2015 to 2024, the market share of the top ten companies in the waterproofing industry (CR10) only increased from 18% to 24%, which is far lower than that of coatings, ceramic tiles and other building materials segments. This shows that industry concentration is low and low-price melee is still the mainstream.
The fate of central enterprises brings not only funds, but also the ability to rewrite the rules.
Take BNBM as an example. In its “one body, two wings, global layout” strategy, it has upgraded its waterproofing business from auxiliary to main force. There are three major logics behind it.
The status of a central enterprise comes with a trust bonus, making it easier to obtain tickets for government projects and large-scale infrastructure projects. Coupled with the existing national distribution and service network, it can quickly spread high-quality products to local markets, which is difficult for small and medium-sized factories to achieve.
BNBM does not lower prices across the board to grab orders, but targets three major scenarios: renovation (maintenance of existing buildings), civil construction (increasing demand for high-performance materials), and drainage and seepage prevention (water conservancy, underground space and other complex projects).
These fields have high thresholds, stable profits, and strong anti-cyclicality, and customers are willing to pay for quality and long-term services.
Central enterprises have the conditions to continue investing in research and development, such as developing longer-life coils and more environmentally friendly formulas; on the service side, they have launched integrated solutions for testing, quality assurance, and emergency repairs to turn one-time sales into long-term relationships.
The 2025 financial report confirms the effectiveness of this strategy: BNBM achieved revenue of 4.786 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.33%, and net profit of 222 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.6%.
In the context of the general increase in raw materials, this kind of “revenue + profit” double growth is rare, indicating that its pricing and cost control have entered an active range.
It is worth noting that the operational actions of central enterprises such as cash business, high-quality development and price adjustments are triggering a chain reaction in the industry.
In the first quarter of this year, BNBM combined market research and cost accounting to prudently promote price adjustments, and other waterproofing companies also increased prices one after another.
This industry-wide price adjustment is not accidental, but a concentrated display of the pricing power of leading companies.
When low price is no longer the only means of competition and quality and service become hard currency, market share will naturally concentrate among capable players.
In the future, small factories without technology and brands will exit under the double squeeze of cost and quality; as existing buildings enter the maintenance peak, the demand for “repair once and manage for ten years” will allow reliable companies to take over the existing market; the focus of competition will change from “who is cheaper” to “who is more stable, longer and more worry-free”, and the trust and sustainability of the entire chain will increase.
Will the low-price melee end?
My judgment is: it will not disappear overnight, but it has entered a countdown.
The reason is simple: the essence of low-price melee is “bad money drives out good money”, and the entry of central enterprises and leading private enterprises are using brands, technologies, and services to raise the competition threshold and lead the industry to high-quality development.
This process takes time. After all, there are still a large number of scattered small projects and local projects across the country that are undertaken by small factories, and the price sensitivity is extremely high.
For practitioners, this is a clear signal: if you continue to indulge in “survive with low quotes”, you may not survive until the end of the next round of industry reshuffle.
On the contrary, companies that can seize high-value-added scenarios, establish stable service capabilities, and accumulate technological reserves will get a bigger piece of the pie in the new landscape.
On the surface, the goal of central enterprises is to solve the problem of building leakage, remove the lesions of low-price melee, replace it with a healthy texture of quality, technology, and service, and use the power of example to lead the industry from “barbaric growth” to “high-quality development”, but objectively it has played a role in “controlling floods.”
The flood of low-price melee is being gradually cured. Although this process is slow, it has already begun, and leading companies such as Beixin, Dongfang Yuhong, and Keshun are the driving force behind it.
