Coatings World - March 2011

paints as well as the Cabot line of siding and deck stains. A highlight of the catalog is the new professional latex program, which offers premium quality paints that are specifically formulated to meet the needs of the professional painter. In addition to hiding and superb touch-up capabilities, Valspar’s professional latex paints have low splatter, are washable and are low odor/low VOC formulated, the company said. Valspar’s Industrial Maintenance Products catalog features detailed information, color charts and photos of premium quality products, including: industrial high-solids spray paint; fluorescent, high heat, zinc primer and hammered spray paints; industrial enamel and armor anti-rust; specialty paints such as tractor and implement, marking and traffic, zone marking, latex field marking, barn and fence, siding and roof, porch and floor and heavy-duty aluminum; professional latex paints and primers; all-purpose enamel spray paints and appliance epoxy; sealers; and Cabot deck and siding stains.

raw materials. Dr. Simon Hinkley is the lead chemist on the collaboration. A year ago, the proposal won Resene $1 million in R&D services in IRL’s “What’s Your Problem New Zealand?” competition.

IRL scientists and Resene technical staff have created a novel-binding ingredient using a polymer derived from a readily available and highly renewable feedstock produced in New Zealand. They will soon be applying for a patent.

“We have generated a novel, derivatized
polymer mixture that not only confers
properties crucial for a paint binder, but
also allows laterreactivity in the paint pro-
moting hardening, film forming and other
desirable characteristics,” said Hinkley.

Solrac Coatings (Jiaxing) Co., Ltd.,
becomes IKEAʼs official supplier

BMW recommends BASF Coatings automotive refinish products for dealers and bodyshops BASF Coatings’ automotive refinish products were approved by BMW for 30 countries across the globe. This means that BMW recommends the paint manufacturer for its bodyshops and dealers. The two companies are linked by a long-estab-lished cooperation in the refinishing sector. BMW has already used BASF Coatings’ automotive refinish products since 1984. In addition to the paints, BMW bodyshops also utilize BASF Coatings’ services including training, bodyshop audits or com-puter-assisted color management. The new agreement is valid until the end of 2012.

New Zealand firms collaborate to develop waterborne paints from sustainable raw materials Industrial Research Ltd. (IRL), the only Crown Research Institute mandated to support New Zealand industry, and paint manufacturer Resene have joined together on a project to develop waterborne paints based on resins made from sustainable

IKEA, the Swedish international home products company and the world’s largest furniture retailer, recently added Solrac Coatings (Jiaxing) Co., Ltd. to its stable of liquid coatings suppliers, of which there are only ten worldwide. Based in the Zhejiang area in China, Solrac Coatings (Jiaxing) is the Chinese arm of Productos Solrac, S.A., which is headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. The company manufactures high technology waterborne coatings.

Solrac supplies its waterborne processes to furniture manufacturers in China. This latest deal helps to establish Solrac Coatings (Jiaxing) Co., Ltd. as being technologically on par with the major international coatings companies that dominate the industrial coatings sector.

Wood coatings manufacturer Solrac was founded in 1942 and has been active in markets in France, Portugal and Romania before entering Asia.

China has a strong wood coatings market, particularly for parquets and furniture. In 2008, it represented 6. 4 millions of tons of coatings, according to IRL’s, “A Profile of the Chinese Paint Industry.” After a conscientious analysis, Solrac group decided in 2007 to invest a part of its human and financial capital to build a factory in China.

The 5,000 square meter factory is fully equipped with the most up to date technology, which enables coatings production capacity of 2,500 tones a year.

“Being part of IKEA’s suppliers is a huge quality step for Solrac,” said Javier Gallach Caballero, manager, Solrac Coatings (Jiaxing) CO., LTD. “This client requires effort and dedication, and the five-year plan suggested by the Chinese government to protect the environment, will help the change from solvent products to environmentally friendly products.

“Solrac’s policy is entirely focused on waterborne products because of their high quality and their environmentally-friendly production,” Caballero said. “Step by step our clients focus on high quality finished products instead of cheap products. Until a year ago, in China, the market share for waterborne products was centralized on IKEA and a few manufacturers working also in European and North American markets. The market is progressively more oriented to waterborne and low VOC products. In order to meet this demand, Solrac is positioned in China.”