“The Euro and Rupee will be relatively
weaker versus the dollar and the Chinese
yuan will continue to strengthen versus
the dollar in 2012,” said Shah. “This will
directly impact raw materials depending
on their origin. Many raw material prices
will fall as demand in Europe continues to
soften. Pollution factors in India will still
keep Phthalocyanine prices volatile.”
“Since Sincol USA is part of a major
pigment producer in China, we are very
aware of the challenges facing the pigment
and chemical industry inside China,” said
Gray. “Environmental issues to the whole
chemical industry in China will cause the
raw materials shortage and cost increase
throughout 2012. Coupled without
doubt, the cost of organic pigments will
continue to increase in 2012. Spot short-
ages of select Color Index pigments will
increase as the consolidation and down-
sizing of traditional pigment suppliers
continue in 2012.”
“The global pigments production ca-
pacity is in surplus, while the demand is
shrinking, which has caused keen compe-
tition in the market,” said Wu. “Some fac-
tories in China are selling some materials
below cost to try to keep factories active.
For some key raw materials, such as Bon
Acid, 4B acid, 2B acid, Triple A, and DCB,
the selling price is very close to cost, some
raw material factories even sell at a loss.
The inventory levels of raw materials are
very low, and when the market gets bet-
ter, there could be price increases and
some supply shortages.”
“China remains strong in azo pigment
while Indian dominates blue and green,”
said Liu. “Raw material price and supply
did not prove to be the biggest shaping
factor of the Chinese pigment supply
landscape. They had big fluctuations in
the past two years and we are still seeing
every supplier at the same ranking posi-
tion still in China. If we talk about China
I think it will be interesting to watch who
will emerge as the dominant supplier. So
far we are seeing one or two bigger ones
but far from being dominant.”
for high performance and special effect
pigments, the automotive coatings market
drives growth in the pigments market.
Growth Markets
While some markets remain flat for pigments, there are several areas that present
growth opportunities. With its demand
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