Publish Date: September 2026
Updated Tariff & Recession Risk Analysis and Forecasts
The 2026 Glue & Adhesive Manufacturing Market Report covers the $18.5 billion industry which produces specialized bonding formulations spanning construction, industrial assembly, consumer, and technical applications. Competitive structure features both multinational chemical companies with adhesive divisions and specialized manufacturers focused on particular bonding technologies. Market demands increasingly emphasize bond strength, application efficiency, specialized curing characteristics, and increasingly sustainable formulations addressing specific assembly requirements. Manufacturers face challenges balancing formulation expertise, performance testing capabilities, regulatory compliance, and tariff considerations affecting both specialty polymer imports and international market access. Industry leaders differentiate through advanced formulation technologies creating enhanced properties, specialized bonding capabilities addressing complex substrates, comprehensive technical support ensuring proper selection and application, and sustainable chemistry initiatives reducing environmental impact in a sector where both technical performance and increasingly environmental credentials determine competitive positioning across diverse adhesive applications.
Glue & Adhesive Manufacturing Industry Description
Glue & Adhesive Manufacturing produces substances that bond materials together for construction, manufacturing, packaging, and consumer applications. Companies formulate products from natural and synthetic polymers, creating adhesives with specific bonding strength, flexibility, temperature resistance, and curing mechanisms. These businesses serve woodworking, construction, assembly, packaging, and consumer markets with products ranging from everyday white glue to specialized structural adhesives used in aerospace applications. The industry develops formulations that enable modern manufacturing and construction assembly techniques, focusing increasingly on solvent-free systems, bio-based alternatives, and improved bond performance that supports lightweighting and material innovation across multiple industries.
NAICS Code: 32552
Number of Companies: 392
Number of Plants / Facilities: 551
Total Employees: 24,560
Market Size: $18.5 billion
TARIFF IMPACT (Summer 2025 – Download Report for Updated Analysis)
This report has in-depth analysis on the recent US tariff changes on material costs, quantifying import dependencies, tariff exposure rates, and key source countries for the glue & adhesive manufacturing sector.
Estimated Tariff Cost: $730 million
Relative Tariff Impact: VERY HIGH
Glue & Adhesive Manufacturing Report Format
The 2026 U.S. Glue & Adhesive Manufacturing Market Report is 63 pages of deep insights into the trends, dynamics, and forecasts shaping the industry. This market report is utilized by professionals to gain a in-depth understanding of the sector for business strategy, planning, forecasting, benchmarking, industry analysis, valuations, identifying organizational inefficiencies, financial analysis, and more.
The report has over 100 industry statistical data sets with historicals (2017-2025), trend analysis, and forecasts for 2026 and the next 5 years. The report includes sales & expense trends, in-depth OPEX analysis on 26 categories, dozens of financial metrics, forecasts, inventory trends & analysis, 31 balance sheet benchmarks, segmentation by business size and structure, top 50 companies analysis, material costs analysis, profitability analysis, state benchmarks, plant capacity analysis, employee role analysis, 4 years of inflation analysis, compensation analysis, in-depth productivity analysis, and more.
Below are a few page images from the report and check out the table of contents for a complete overview.
Report Table of Contents
Review the table of contents to appreciate why thousands of professionals, bankers, consultants, accountants, and other executives rely on Kentley Insights for data-rich industry insights.
For this report, the core data is sourced from comprehensive business, operational, and economic surveys conducted by government and private institutions and filled out by a statistically significant number of companies in the glue & adhesive manufacturing industry. The forecasts in the report are modeled by our research analysts using the latest economic forecasts, industry analysis, and historical trends.
1-2 – Market Report Overview & Contents
3 – Market Overview
– Data Sources, Industry Definition & Market Commentary
4 – Market Synopsis – Revenue & Growth
5 – Market Synopsis – Costs & Profitability
SECTION ONE
REVENUE & GROWTH ANALYSIS
7 – Market Size Details
– Industry Revenues, Companies & Facilities
– Trend Analysis 2017-2025
– 2026 & 2030 Forecasts
8 – Growth Benchmarks
– Sales per Company & Plant
– Trend Analysis 2017-2025
– 2026 & 2030 Forecasts
9 – Product Lines Revenue
– Percentage of Revenue from Product Lines
10 – BCG Matrix – Net Income vs. Revenue Growth
– Subsectors vs. Industry
11 – Total Sales by Month & Year
– 2021-2025 Sales per Month
12 – Inventory Value by Month & Year
– Inventory Value per Month for 2021-2025
13 – Months of Inventory
– Months of Inventory per Month for 2021-2025
14 – Sector Revenue by Segments
– Concentration Segments by Top Companies
– Business Size Segments
– Business Structure Segments
15 – Market Size by State
16 – Market Size as a % of State GDP
17 – Sales as a % of State Manufacturing
18 – Market Segmentation by Business Size
19 – Market Segmentation by Business Size
– Business Size Segments – 1-4, 5-9, 10-20, 21-50, 51-100, 101-250, & 250+ employees
– Companies, Facilities, Sales, Employees & Payroll
20 – Segmentation by Concentration (Top 50 Companies)
– Concentration Segments – Top 4, 5-8, 9-20, & 21-50 companies
– Companies, Facilities, Sales, Employees & Payroll
21 – Market Share of Top 50 Companies
22 – Subsector Market Share of Top 50 Companies
23 – Segmentation by Business Structure
– Business Structure Segments – C-Corporations, S-Corporations, Partnerships, & Sole Proprietorships
– Companies, Facilities, Sales, Employees & Payroll
24 – Revenue per Company by State
– Revenue per Company
25 – Revenue per Company by Segments
26 – Revenue per Facility by State
27 – Revenue per Facility by Segment
– Business Size, Concentration, & Structure
28 – Subsector Growth
– Sales and 5-Year Growth
29 – Subsector Statistics
– Sales per Company & Facility, and 5-Year Growth
30 – Consolidation Analysis
– 5-Year Growth of Companies & Locations
31 – Employment Consolidation Analysis
– 5-Year Growth of Employee Statistics
32 – Subsector Consolidation Analysis
– Number of Companies & Facilities
– 5-Year Growth
33 – Subsector Consolidation Analysis
– Facilities per Company
– Employees per Company
– 5-Year Growth
SECTION TWO
COST, CAPITAL & PROFIT BENCHMARKS
35 – Profitability & Financial Ratio Analysis
– Percent of Companies that are Profitable
– Average Net Income as a Percent of Revenue
– 10 of the Top Financial Ratios
– Assets and Liabilities indexed to industry revenue at 100
– Current & Non-Current Assets: 14 Categories
– Short-term, Long-term Liabilities, & Net Worth: 13 Categories
37 – OPEX
– Industry OPEX
– Revenue vs. OPEX Growth
– OPEX as a Percent of Revenue
– Trend Analysis 2017-2025
– 2026 & 2030 Forecasts
38 – OPEX by Company & Plant
– OPEX per Company & Facility
– Revenue vs. Expenses Growth per Plant
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
Page 39 – OPEX Detail
– Employee Expenses: payroll, insurance, pension, defined contribution plans, fringe benefits, temps
– Cost of Materials: materials, parts, containers, packaging, cost of resale, electricity and fuels, contract work
– Buildings and Equipment: capex for equipment, rental or lease for equipment, capex for buildings and structures, rental or leases, repair and maintenance
– Other Operating Expenses: professional and technical services, IT software and hardware, data processing and communications, advertising, refuse removal, taxes and license fees, other
-Inventory Breakdown: finished goods, work-in-progress, materials and supplies
40 – Production Material Costs & Tariff Analysis
– Top Production Material Costs Breakdown
– Industry & Material Tariff Analysis – % of costs, import %, tariff costs, source countries
41 – Producer Pricing Index
– Annual PPI – Indexed to 2006
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
– Monthly PPI Figures for the Past 4 Years
42 – Plant Utilization & Hours
– Plant Utilization Rate
– Plant Operational Hours per Week
– 2022-2025 Historical Figures by Quarter
43 – Reasons for Non-Full Production
– 7 Categories Quarterly Survey Results for Past 2 Years
44 – Productivity & Employment
– Revenue per Employee
– Total Employees
– Employees per Company
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
45 – Employee Productivity by Segments
– Business Size, Concentration, & Structure
46 – Employee Productivity by State
47 –Subsector Sales & Payroll per Employee
– Absolute & 5-Year Growth
48 – Payroll Analysis
– Payroll per Employee, Company & Plant
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
49 – Payroll per Company by Segments
50 – Payroll per Plant by Segments
51 – Payroll per Employee by Segments
52 – Payroll per Employee by State
53 – Organizational Composition
– % of Employees for 27 Job Categories
– Management & Finance
– Sales & Marketing
– Technology, Engineering, Science
– Service, Support & Training
– Operations
54 – Job Categorization Pay Ranges
– Management & Finance
– Sales, Service & Marketing
– Operations
– Pay Bands – Bottom 10% & 25%, Mean, Top 25% & 10%
55 – Top 20 Jobs Breakdown
56 – Top 20 Jobs Pay
57 – Employees per Company by Segments
58 – Employees per Plant by Segments
59 – Facilities per Company by Segments
60 – Total Employment by State
61 – Population to Every Employee by State
62 – Employees per Facility by State
63 – Overview of Kentley Insights
Download a Sample Report
Below is a free sample report download. The 2026 Glue & Adhesive Manufacturing Market Report has the same layout and data sets as the sample report.
Product Lines, Materials, and Jobs Covered in Report
PRODUCT LINES
Synthetic resin and rubber adhesives, including all types of bonding and laminating adhesives
Nonstructural caulking compounds and sealants
Adhesive manufacturing, nsk, total
Natural base glues and adhesives
Structural sealants (load-bearing)
MATERIAL COST CATEGORIES
Materials, ingredients, containers, and supplies, nsk
All basic organic and inorganic chemicals, excluding petrochemicals
Cost of all other materials and components, parts, containers, and supplies consumed
Thermoplastic and thermosetting resins and plastics materials
Synthetic rubber
Refined petroleum products, including coke, solvents, oils, and waxes
Paper and paperboard products
Nonmetallic minerals, including stone, sand, refractory minerals, and chemical materials, excluding fertilizer materials
Plastics containers (including bottles, jars, tubes, tubs, etc.)
Metal containers, cans, lids, ends, and parts
INDUSTRY JOBS ANALYZED
Other Production Occupations
Material Moving Workers
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing
Material Recording, Scheduling, Dispatching, and Distributing Workers
Supervisors of Production Workers
Other Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations
Physical Scientists
Operations Specialties Managers
Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians
Information and Record Clerks
Business Operations Specialists
Top Executives
Engineers
Other Office and Administrative Support Workers
Financial Clerks
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
Financial Specialists
Advertising, Marketing, Promotions, Public Relations, and Sales Managers
Plant and System Operators
Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers
About Kentley Insights
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