High Performance and Special Effect Pigments
The high performance and special effect pigments market continues to improve and all indications are this growth will continue into the near term. Pigment manufacturers are focusing on developing products that deliver outstanding performance.
The market for high performance pigments (HPP) and special effect pigments has continued to show signs of improve- ment. Although still not quite back to pre-recession levels
high performance and special effect pigment manufacturers are expressing cautious optimism that this positive trend will continue.
“For 2012, the challenges continue for high performance and
special effect pigments, even though we have seen improvement in
overall demand versus the same time last year,” said Maria Gian-
nobile, marketing manager, pigments and colorants, BASF Corp.
“Market demand continues to rebound, however, it continues to re-
main highly correlated with the global economy and tied to criti-
cal segments such as automotive and durable goods. Overall, we
remain cautiously optimistic regarding the business outlook as we
continue to improve upon our position by utilizing our broad port-
folio. BASF offers a full portfolio spectrum that can address a wide
variety of market sectors and applications.”
“Due to continued, although slow growth in the global econ-
omy, we continue to see a positive upswing in the high perform-
ance and special effect pigments market in 2012, but still not to
pre-recession levels,” said Scott Heitzman, global product man-
ager, high performance pigments, Sun Chemical Performance
Pigments. “This is an important market for Sun Chemical Per-
formance Pigments and that’s why we recently acquired Benda-
Lutz. The acquisition of Benda-Lutz allows Sun Chemical to
expand its product portfolio in metallic effects to our core coat-
ings markets and increase our global footprint in pigments and
effects. We are optimistic that Sun Chemical Performance Pig-
ments will see continued growth for the high performance and
special effects pigments market in 2012.”
Heubach experienced growth in this market segment in the higher
end industrial and particularly in automotive coating markets in
2011. “This was partly due to increased demand as well as to new
market penetration with recently developed HPPs,” said Bob Poe-
mer, business unit leader at Heucotech, Ltd. “The automotive sec-
tor has continued to strengthen in 2012 as OEM sales are up for the
third straight year. Industrial applications are also strengthening but
housing and commercial construction have continued to be weak.”
According to Frank Lavieri, general manager, executive vice
president at Lansco Colors, the market for high performance pig-
www.coatingsworld.com
August 2012
