International Coatings Scene
LATIN AMERICA BY CHARLES W. THURSTON LATIN AMERICAN CORRESPONDENT HURSTONCW@RODPUB.COM
Colombian paint maker expands operations
Colombia’s
leading paint
maker has
expanded its
operations
further into
the Caribbean
paint and
coatings
market.
Colombian paint and coatings manufacturer Inversiones Mundial has strengthened its position in the Caribbean through the purchase of additional shares of Curacao-based
Macomoca N.V. from De Colores N.V. for an estimated $1.7 million. The investment raises
Inversiones Mundial’s equity in the company to
75%. Venezuela’s Corporation Grupo Quimico
SACA has also held a 25% share in Macomoca.
Among the company’s subsidiaries is
Compania Global de Pinturas, or Pintuco,
which operates in the Netherlands Antilles as
Compania Pintuco Aruba y Curazao C.A.,
using the Antilliaanse Verffabriek B.V., or
AFV Paints brand.
Inversiones Mundial, a diversified company,
which also made an investment in a Brazilian
pipe company, recently has indicated that it has
a diversification strategy and a potential investment budget of up to $100 million, but is moving
cautiously during this economic period, according to statements by company president Javier
Jaramillo Velasquez to Colombia’s Colprensa.
Apart from Curacao, the company also has manufacturing facilities in Ecuador and Venezuela,
as well as commercial offices in Honduras,
Panama and Peru. Global de Pinturas also is a
member of the Color Marketing Group.
Under the Pintuco brand, the company has
launched a 50th anniversary color collection of its
Viniltex architectural paints, and is marketing it
through retail centers including mall installations in Medellin. Among other marketing efforts,
the company has also set up a 35-page netbook
oriented to retail Acriltex customers (see
http://www.nxtbook.com/ml/TDE/vivaElColor
Ed9/ index.php) with a wide selection of residential settings and color themes, encompassing
both paint and wood coatings. The company
offers Acriltex test quarts in bright green plastic
containers.
While the Colombian economy has slowed this
year, Inversiones Mundial’s sales are expected to
rise by close to ten percent, which is a decline
from the 14% expansion in the prior year,
Jaramillo suggested to the press. The company
holds a 60% share of the Colombian paint market, he indicated. All segments of the company,
including paint and coatings, generate $1 billion
in sales and employ 5,000, Colprensa reports.
Other press reports suggest that Jaramillo
plans to retire in late September; Ernesto
Fajardo Pinto, who has ties to Monsanto, has
been tapped to replace him.
Curacao is the economic center of the Netherlands Antilles islands, where the primary
industry is refining Venezuelan crude oil. While
the Netherlands Antilles paint and coatings market is not large, there are a variety of manufacturers located there. On Curacao’s sister island of
Aruba, an architectural-oriented manufacturer is
Caribbean Paint Factory Aruba Inc. CW
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