International Coatings Scene
LATIN AMERICA
BY CHARLES W. THURSTON
LATIN AMERICAN CORRESPONDENT
THURSTONCW@RODPUB.COM
Brazil shines for AkzoNobel
AkzoNobel’s
operations
in Brazil
continue
to post
positive
growth
figures.
Brazil’s demand for paint and coatings
is a bright spot in AkzoNobel’s worldwide operations during the current
world economic crisis, and new investment in
the country will help assure it continues to
shine in the company’s financial statements.
During the third quarter, sales in Brazil were
up by double-digits and are expected to reach
€700 million this year.
Latin America as a whole represented
eight percent of global sales for the company
during the quarter. For full year 2007,
AkzoNobel reported €475 million in sales for
Latin America as an origin, and €606 million in sales for Latin America as a destination. Across the region, the company has
2,700 employees.
“We fundamentally believe in Brazil. If the
country does not grow in the area of four to
five percent per year, as has been happening,
it will still grow between 2.5% and three percent,” said AkzoNobel CEO Hans Wijers in
São Paulo recently. This level of growth in
Europe or the U.S. would be reason for euphoria. It means the market keeps growing.”
The national paint and coatings association, Associação Brasileira dos Fabricantes
de Tinta (Abrafati) predicts that paint sales
in Brazil will increase seven percent this
year to 1.1 billion liters. Paint consumption
has traditionally grown faster than GDP in
Brazil, and since consumption per liter is
low, any increase in liquid disposable
income boosts architectural segment sales.
Last year, total paint and coatings market
sales were up 19% to $2.4 billion, according
to Abrafati. Architectural segment sales
were up 20% to $1.4 billion; automotive
repainting sales were up 17% to $223 million; automotive OEM sales were up 13% to
$171 million; and industrial segment sales
were up 20% to $600 million.
Over the past three years, the company
has invested €100 million in Brazil, and
the pace may slow but will continue, Wijers
told local press. With the acquisition of ICI
in January, AkzoNobel added the Coral
brand of paint—Brazil’s second largest in
the architectural segment—to its portfolio,
which also includes Dulux, Sikkens,
Wanda, Ypiranga, Interpon, International
and Glidden.
Among recent market developments, the
Wanda brand acrylic primer was reformulated
for better coverage. Similarly, the Ypiranga
brand architectural paint line now includes the
Renova acrylic sub-line, with 17 ready-mixed
colors. And the International brand has been
repackaged to match the United Kingdom
standard, for the Pintoff, Solgard and Flexacryl
products. The company uses the Inspiration
Color System, with some 2,000 color options, at
its retail centers.
To better play its role as a corporate citizen, AkzoNobel has engaged in several
social projects in Brazil lately. One, sponsored by Akzo Nobel Car Refinishes São
Paolo, involved the establishment of a safe
house for endangered children in the Sao
Paulo neighborhood of Jandira, called Casa
Familia & Vida. The refinishes group also is
sponsoring the refurbishment of the central
market in Serra Branca.
Similarly, another company unit in Sao
Paulo—Surface Chemistry, Polymer Chemicals,
Functional Chemicals and Flexsys—is sponsoring after-school art lessons and sports training
for the children of the Itupeva area of São
Roque da Chave. The program is called Key to
Life. Brazil places a premium on annual social
and environmental reporting by major corporations that are publicly traded. CW
