International Coatings Scene
LATIN AMERICA
BY CHARLES W. THURSTON
LATIN AMERICAN CORRESPONDENT
THURSTONCW@RODPUB.COM
Colorin expands capital
Colorin is
riding the
wave of
Argentina’s
economic
expansion.
Argentine paint manufacturer
Colorin Industria de Materiales
Sinteticos S.A. is taking advantage of strong economic expansion in the
country and issuing 4.1 million shares on
the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange to facilitate debt restructuring. The company
has experienced a boom in sales last
year, from $73 million in 2006 to $117
million, and now controls about ten percent of the total national market for paint
and coatings.
Colorin sales this year are likely to follow
gross domestic product growth, expected to be
about seven percent, according to Marina
Ceredas, the company director of marketing,
in Buenos Aires. Profit for the company, led by
President Xavier Champenois rose by approximately 50% in 2007 to $37 million.
Colorin has approximately 220 employees
and produces paints, enamels, varnishes, thinners, solvents and other products for the architectural, automotive refinishing and industrial
segments, at plants in Bernal Oeste, within
Buenos Aires province, with a capacity of 24
million liters per year, and in San Luis, with a
capacity of 24 million liters per year. Most production now takes place at the San Luis unit.
The company is 87.8% owned by Spain’s
Materis Paints Espana, which, in turn, is controlled by France’s Lafarge Peintures.
Colorin’s continued growth in Argentina is
challenged by the specter of inflation, which
rose to 8.5% last year. Rising energy costs also
are a challenge for the company. Within the
paint and coatings market, Colorin notes that
there is increasing competition among paint
distributors, which have expanded their networks over the past few years. Marketing of
brands thus has become more crucial to sales
growth. Last year, Colorin appointed Ceredas
to reposition the company’s brands.
“We are repositioning the brands through
print and radio campaigns, and redesigning
packaging to increase appeal to consumers,”
said Ceredas. Among new marketing campaigns, the company has introduced a new
rectangular one-gallon plastic pail of its premium Colorin Living brand interior architectural paint, through a co-branding with
Living magazine, a leading lifestyle publication in Buenos Aires. “The pail was designed
so that consumers can fit a roller into it and
still reseal the package,” she said. Over the
past year, Colorin has launched a new website as well.
Colorin estimates that the architectural segment corresponds to approximately 70% of the
total national paint market, and that within
the architectural segment, 80% of sales are
water-based, while 20% are solvent-based.
Industrial paints represent approximately
12% of the total national paint market, Colorin
estimates. The company also estimates that
automotive repainting segment represents
seven percent of total national sales.
Among main Colorin brands are:
Vitrolux, gloss paints and coatings for the
architectural and industrial segments;
Comodin primers; Thermocontrol exterior
architectural paints; Emocion, latex interior architectural paints; MMB automotive
refinishes, and others. The company identi-fies its primary competitors as Alba S.A.,
Sherwin-Williams, Tersuave S.A. and
Sinteplast S.A. CW
