Coatings World - July 2012

06BASF Coatings Ludwigshafen, Germany www.basf.com

PUBLIC COMPANY
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1865
REVENUE: $3.956 billion ; (2010: 3.4bn)

MARKETS SERVED
• Automotive OEM
• Commercial vehicles
• Decorative paints
• Automotive refinish
• Industrial coatings
KEY EXECUTIVES
Raimar Jahn, president, BASF Group’s Coat-
ings Division; Helmut Rödder, member of the
board of BASF Coatings AG; Udo Reiter,
head of global technology, coatings; Dr.
Klaus Plitzko, head of global applied re-
search and technology, coatings; Juan
Ximenez-Carrillo Gerber, automotive OEM
coatings; Christoph Hansen, automotive re-
finish coatings; Peter Alexander Fischer, in-
dustrial coatings; Rui Artur Goerck, decora-
tive paints.

BASF’s coatings division is one of the world’s largest suppliers of coatings solutions for automotive and industrial applica- tions. With its brands Glasurit and R-M for the car refinish business, the company is successful in the premium segment world-wide. In Brazil, BASF is the leading manufacturer of architectural coatings under its flagship brand Suvinil. In China, the new architectural coatings brand Norbin was introduced.

In 2011 BASF Coatings saw its sales rise above 2010 levels due to higher volume and prices to $3.956 billion. Broken down regionally, 42 percent of BASF Coatings’ sales came from Europe while 28 percent came from South America, Africa and the Middle East, with the largest chunk from South America. Asia Pacific and North America are smaller markets for BASF Coatings with 17 percent and 13 respectively. Asia Pacific is growing the fastest of all regions.

BASF said demand for its products grew in all business areas. The favorable market environment in the global automotive industry, higher demand in South America and its strong business with coatings solutions in Russia made a significant contribution to sales growth.

Its business with automotive coatings was very successful due to growing demand from its customers in Europe and Asia, especially in China. Sales in the automotive refinish coatings business also grew due to new customers and price increases.

BASF achieved a significant increase in sales volumes of coatings for transportation and agricultural machinery. In Europe, the company benefited from strong demand for coil coatings from the Russian steel industry. Due to new customers in emerging markets, sales volumes of coatings for wind turbines also grew.

In the decorative paints business area, sales were higher than in the previous year, particularly in South America. In this region, BASF said it not only experienced greater consumer demand, it was also able to gain additional market share with product innovations and targeted advertising measures.

BASF Coatings said during the year it plans to sell in the near-
term the decorative paints business of Relius Coatings GmbH &
Co. KG along with the respective subsidiaries in France and the
Netherlands. The business encompasses decorative paints and
plaster as well as coatings and glazing for construction applica-
tions. Regionally, it is focused on Germany and selected countries
in Europe. In 2010, the business had total sales of approximately
€ 80 million. The sites in Memmingen, Germany, and Deurne,
Netherlands, are part of the divestiture in addition to distribution
offices of Relius for decorative paints.

Daimler introduces BASF's iGloss Clearcoat for its
OEM coatings

During the year Daimler became the first automaker to introduce BASF's new iGloss clearcoat for OEM coatings. At its plant in Bremen, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe, SLK and SL models are coated with the scratch-resistant paint. The clearcoat is the top layer of the automotive finish and provides gloss for the body, as well as protection from stresses such as sunlight or chemicals. The iGloss technology offers all these features and additionally provides high scratch resistance. iGloss combines the advantages of inorganic “hard” materials with those of organic “soft” materials. The hybrid material delivers improved scratch resistance without increasing brittleness.