According to Bill Gray, business manager, Sincol USA Corp.,
the first half of 2011 showed strong growth, especially in the U.S.
market. “The second half has proven more challenging due to
global issues and sliding demand,” he said. “Global sales were
down sharply beginning third quarter, especially in Europe. U.S.
sales have slowed dramatically in the fourth quarter.”
“The pigment market performed well in the first half of 2011,
but since July the market has slowed due to the bad economic sit-
uation, especially in Europe,” said Li Wu, technical director, Trust
Chem Co., Ltd. “A lot of companies have focused on cutting in-
ventory. We have seen the biggest slow down in the printing ink
area, the plastic market has also been slow, with the coatings
market performing the best of the three key markets.”
“We see a hat shape trend this year, up and then down, in
Chinese pigment pricing,” said Josh Liu of Houchi. “The turning
point occurred roughly from July to August. Particular pigments
increased more than others. Violet 23 is in my opinion the high-
est price up-swing pigment of all allegedly due to the raw mate-
rial coming from steel side product. And the very weak housing
market has led to stalled steel production, which in turn led to a
shortage of this material.”
Optimism for 2012
The improvements seen in 2011 are expected to carry over into
2012. Pigment manufacturers Coatings World interviewed expressed optimism for 2012.
“For 2012, BASF is cautiously optimistic regarding the
business outlook as we continue to improve upon our position
by utilizing our broad portfolio,” said Lee. “No single supplier
can offer the full spectrum that we can – to focus on target
market sectors.”
“Aakash Chemicals saw another growth year of 40 percent
growth and tremendous improvement in business relationships
focused on flexibility of supply combined with being able to cater
to a variety of product requirements as we have expanded our
lines,” said Shah. “We are looking forward to an even stronger
2012 as customers are becoming more loyal to suppliers who are
loyal to them. As we focus on continuous improvement and nim-
ble solutions for our customers, they are rewarding us with large
increases in business globally.”
Sincol USA reported that it expects 2012 will be a good year.
“Sincol USA has continued to achieve market penetration in the
coatings, ink and plastic industries,” said Gray. “Our parent com-
pany, Sincol Corp., will achieve the sales targets set for 2011 due
to the strong first half growth in and also new business gained
from new industries. The domestic coatings market in China was
one of the strongest sectors.”
“Trust Chem will see 10 percent worldwide growth on sales
in 2011 compared with that of 2010 even based on this bad eco-
nomic situation,” said Wu. “It has been an even stronger year for
Trust Chem USA which continues to show rapid growth. Ac-
cording to the current economic situation, we do not foresee any
improvements in sales in the first half of 2012.”
“Our company has suffered from weak demand in the sec-
ond half of the year,” said Liu. “I think we will improve in 2012.
The global economy definitely plays a big role but we are doing
things that make us more effective and competitive to meet the
challenges. It is difficult to say that 2012 will be a good year but
we are hoping our actions and plans will put us in a competitive
mode at least to stay ahead of the competitors.”
“Shepherd Color looks for 2012 to be an exciting year,” said
Mark Ryan, marketing manager, Shepherd Color. “We will be
launching a number of new products that range from extensions
and improvements over our current offerings, to new and exciting
products and chemistries that greatly expand our color space.”
“Lansco Colors had a strong year and record sales results
driven by a greater acceptance of our value proposition and a
deeper appreciation for our high level of on-time-delivery,” said
Lavieri. “The last two years have been a showcase of the effec-
tiveness of pigment companies’ supply chain management and
we have been told that ours is excellent.”
There are several trends reinforcing the feeling of optimism
for pigment manufacturers, although supply issues do remain a
serious challenge. One key positive trend is the increased use of
high performance and special effect pigments.
“The increasing demand for high performance, special effect
and heat management pigment solutions represent key market
trends,” said Lee. “BASF has a robust portfolio of pigments that
provide unique performance characteristics and benefits that ad-
dress each of these three trends. High performance pigments
(HPP) enable enhanced durability, opacity and higher hiding, and
are compatible across broad application areas. Special effect pig-
ments provide exceptional brilliance and ultra-high chroma
needed for the creation of novel designs and product differenti-
ation. Heat management pigments provide solar energy man-
agement solutions, including near-infrared (NIR) reflective
pigments, NIR transparent organic pigments, and stir-in pigment
dispersions and additives for transparent applications.”
“One major trend continues to be the strong positive usage
of high performance and effects pigments in virtually every
market,” said Yazdani. “Another key trend and challenge we
saw in 2011 was the sustained high costs of raw materials.
After two years of rapid decline in demand, we saw a signifi-
cant increase in demand in 2010 and 2011. Unfortunately due
to raw material shortages and increased environmental and reg-
ulatory compliance costs, we saw a significant amount of cost
increases in raw materials.
According to Ryan, raw material availability and costs will
always be an issue, but the company manages these challenges
through supply-chain management and clear conversations with
customers about the realities of the situation. “Without a doubt
rising costs in certain metals and particularly Tio2 have created
significant challenges,” he said. “We also are always looking at alternative technologies and products to meet market needs.
“In 2012, we expect that the magnitude of supply issues that
have led to these price increases will decline,” Ryan said. “
Capacities for some raw materials should increase as incremental
new capacity is restarted. However, where there are still fundamental imbalances in supply and demand, we would expect to
see continued tightness in 2012.”
www.coatingsworld.com
January 2012
