beyond being a low-cost supplier and transition into being an
innovative solutions provider.
Corujo, Ciba: Demand in emerging markets has slowed but
still outpaces most of the developed world markets. As mentioned before in addition to demand, currency effects also come
into play. Currency effects can determine how favorable a particular source point will or will not be for a manufacturer. A
global network of supply and the ability to make the same
quality of product regardless of source point is critical for a pigment supplier to remain competitive. Likewise, understanding
the type of color preferences in each region is essential.
Orlowski, Clariant: The effect of the global downturn is also
recognized in the emerging markets. The reduced product
demand is causing manufactures to either reduce or shut
down production facilities. Expecting this trend to continue
Clariant has established ventures in the Asian region.
McBride, Heucotech: The shift from production of pigments
and intermediates to emerging markets such as China and
India has obviously been significant over the past several
years. With recent disruptions of supply coming from these
emerging market countries, there are now longer-term concerns over continuity of supply. Heubach is expanding both
our sourcing capacities as well as production of key raw materials to ensure better supply into the future.
Peter Carey-Yard, marketing director, coatings, performance
pigments, Sun Chemical: Demand in the emerging markets is
still closely tied to their exports to Europe and North America.
The financial crisis is a global one and their growth will be
severely impacted by the lower demand in the developed
world. In China, tighter environmental controls, and less
available credit, on top of lower demand will most likely make
pigment producers there both less competitive and fewer in
number. As a consequence, we are exploring potential opportunities to better utilize our North American and European
pigment manufacturing operations.
Whiston, Toyo: The current economic crisis has also led to slowing demand in emerging markets, and we believe production of
pigments will continue to shift to developing countries such as
China and India.
CW: What end market areas are driving growth in
pigments? Conversely, what areas are flat?
Chevrier, BASF: Green technologies are a key driver of growth,
which led BASF to develop dispersions that are low-VOC and
alkyl phenol ethoxylates (APEO)-free. The market demand for
flat or traditional solvent technologies that do not have a green
nature is currently slowing down. Another growth driver is the
demand for heat management pigments and additives. Dark
surfaces such as roofing, automotive interiors and composite
decking retain heat, experience material contraction and
expansion stress, and can have a negative environmental
impact as well.
Corujo, Ciba: Unique pigment color spaces and effect pigments
are driving the market as customers seek to differentiate
themselves from their competition. When customers are making changes in architectural coatings they are looking to
upgrade their pigment choices to more high performance pigments. Coatings for non-durable goods are also growing as consumers are becoming more selective in their spending. Effect
pigments that help attract a customer to a product on the shelf
are increasingly popular. As expected, the automotive area is
down to flat for pigments as fewer cars are being produced.
However, even in this sector, there continues to be a high level
of interest for novel pigments that will help sell cars when the
economy turns around.
Orlowski, Clariant: With all major markets being flat or
down we only see growth in special niche applications, such
as intumescent coatings and environmentally friendly
paint formulations.
McBride, Heucotech: Coatings applications in transportation, powder and wood coatings were forecast to grow before
the financial crisis struck the world economy. Pigments for
high performance plastic applications, such as polyamide
for automotives to reduce weight and thus gas demand will
most likely grow in the long-term, but the immediate expectation is the market will be flat in the next year based on
the current situation.
Carey-Yard, Sun Chemical: From a geographical viewpoint,
the emerging industrial giants—China, India and Eastern
Europe—are seen as the markets where per capita gross
domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow most rapidly.
Related to the GDP growth of these emerging markets will be
the growth in the demand for high performance pigments for
the coatings of durable goods, buildings and the automotive
sector. In the graphic arts market, the increasing use of nonimpact printing methods such as ink jet means increased
demand for high performance pigments at the expense of
those conventional pigments used in traditional printing
inks. From the market segment viewpoint, we expect continued growth in cosmetics, specialties and niche markets. We
also expect flat to declining market conditions in automotive,
architectural and ink markets. The trend for more efficient
cars in the automotive market will see a reduction in paint
consumption however, it will also increase the demand for
color. This trend will help to fuel the continued growth in high
performance and effect pigments.
Whiston, Toyo: Basically, China, India and other emerging
areas will be driving growth, while Japan and North
America will be flat at best.
CW
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