International Coatings Scene
LATIN AMERICA
BY CHARLES W. THURSTON
LATIN AMERICAN CORRESPONDENT
THURSTONCW@RODPUB.COM
Chilean paint market evolves
widespread February earthquake continues
on new investments. Over the first half of this
year, the Chilean economy grew by 6. 3 percent. Reductions in the price of oil and other
raw materials have begun to help some companies recover financial margins, like
Tricolor, Fitch reports.
Chile’s
paint sector
continues
to report
positive
growth
despite the
economic
downturn.
The Chilean paint market is returning to growth at a steady pace as manufac- turers rationalize production, focus on
niche marketing and elevate quality product
lines. According to a recent forecast by Oxford
Economics, the $220 million paint industry in
Chile averaged 9. 3 percent expansion over the
five-year period ending in 2009. The analysts’
forecast for the next five years is 5. 5 percent
average expansion.
Given the global economic slowdown last
year, Chile’s paint industry still was touted as
the 10th fastest growing in 2009, despite logging a mere 0.2 percent expansion on the
heels of double-digit growth in 2008. The
industry represents only 1.1 percent of all
manufacturing in Chile, producing some 20
million gallons per year.
Architectural paint sales represent about 60
percent of total sales in Chile, while industrial
sales represent about 40 percent, according to
Fitch Ratings. Among leaders in the sale of
architectural paint for the Chilean do-it-yourself
(DIY) market are Pinturas Ceresita and
Sherwin-Williams, according to Euromonitor
International. Homecenter Sodimac and
Centosud’s Homecenter are the largest DIY
retailers in the country. And at retailer
Construmart, an official was recently quoted
saying that paint represents 50 percent of the
chains’ total sales.
Other national paint companies include
Chilcorrofin, Pinturas Sipa and Soquina. In
June, Ceresita and Sipa merged, with plans for
the former to focus on the architectural segment
and the latter to focus on the industrial segment.
One analyst suggests that the Ceresita-Sipa
partnership is estimated to represent a 35 percent share of the total Chilean paint and coatings market, edging out both Sherwin-Williams
and Tricolor as the largest player.
The paint and coatings sector should
expand rapidly this year as recovery from the
“Given the global economic slowdown last
year, Chile’s paint industry still was touted as
the 10th fastest growing in 2009, despite
logging a mere 0.2 percent expansion on the
heels of double-digit growth in 2008.”
Among new product launches, Ceresita is
now offering an anti-bacterial formulation,
"Bio-Pruf," enhanced with additives made by
Rohm & Haas. Similarly, Sherwin-Williams
has introduced a formulation that includes an
insect repellent. And Sipa has introduced a
thermal insulating paint, Aisla-Tex.
Behr has become the latest entrant to the
Chilean paint market in September 2009. The
company’s paint is being sold in the Sodimac
chain, where Behr has installed its ColorSmart
planning stations.
Apart from traditional points of sale, Chilean
paint companies also are moving into the electronic markets of social media. Ceresita’s website, for example, has a variety of Facebook,
Youtube and Twitter postings and links. Web
analyst Alexa reports that the website received
two million hits over a recent quarter.
Social projects remain a key form of marketing for Chilean paint companies. Following
the February earthquake, for example,
Pinturas Sipa rolled out a program to help
hardware stores replace damaged paint cans
and other materials, with offers to help
upgrade sales aids. CW
