Coatings World - January 2011

From a geographical viewpoint, the emerging industrial giants, China, India, Brazil and Eastern Europe, are seen as the markets where per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow most rapidly. According to Yazdani, 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.

“The demand for pigments in the
emerging markets like China and India ac-
tually increased significantly in 2010,”
said Yazdani. “Overall, the demand in the
emerging markets is still closely tied to
their exports of manufactured goods to
Europe and North America. In China,
higher local demand, tighter environmen-
tal controls, and less available credit, will
most likely make pigment producers there
less competitive. As a consequence, we are
exploring potential opportunities to bet-
ter utilize our North America and Euro-
pean pigment manufacturing operations.”
“The production and consumption of
organic pigment in India and China is
strong,” said Campbell. “No one expects
this to change. There is concern about
when there will be sustained growth in the
U.S. and Europe and the governments in
China and India are trying to slow growth
and inflation. However, some wonder if
total world capacity is growing fast
enough to support local demand and an
expected continual improvement in world
demand. Less cost effective Western fac-
tories are being closed, taking out capac-
ity in Western countries for both finished
pigment and raw materials.”
“Nearly every major coatings and ink
company traveled to China in 2010 to
learn about the capabilities within China
to meet their worldwide supply and qual-
ity requirements,” Campbell continued.
“Almost all have programs in place to in-
crease the share of pigment they buy from
China. There is significant interest in high

performance pigments and the desire to
develop alternative sources.”
“It is our perception that pigment de-
mand in the emerging markets, particu-
larly India and China, has remained at
relatively consistent levels despite the eco-
nomic downturn,” said Poemer. “How-
ever, exports from these emerging
countries have certainly been affected dra-
matically by the economic downturn. The
emerging countries are beginning to see
other factors that are having major im-
pacts on their pigment production. These
include pricing increases on items such as
crude oil and intermediates, increased reg-
ulatory pressures and higher wage level
demands from their workforce. These im-
pacts will in all likelihood slow but not
stop the movement of pigment production
to these emerging countries.”
Log on to www.coatingsworld.com
for additional information on the pig-
ments market, including the latest prod-
uct offerings. CW

Inxel™ B-series

*NQSPWFE;IBOEMJOH;BOE;GVMM;DPMPS;
SBOHF;GPS;XBUFSCPSOF;DPBUJOHT;
t; ; 4PMJE;1JHNFOU;1SFQBSBUJPOT;CBTFE;PO;BO;BDSZMJD;QPMZNFS;
t; &BTZ;UP;JODPSQPSBUF;
t; ; $PNQMFUF;DPMPS;SBOHF;BWBJMBCMF;
t; ; &OBCMFT;UIF;GPSNVMBUJPO;PG;MPX;PS;[FSP;70$;TZTUFNT
www.inxel.com