Coatings World - December 2012

both sustainability and our efforts to address the market needs.
An example of this facet is our current call of action to push for
more TGIC free solutions.”
“There is no question that Asia still offers significant op-
portunities for growth,” said Cregg. Opportunities in Eastern
Europe appear to be expanding, as are opportunities in Latin
and Central America. During the past ten years we saw a num-
ber of companies move their manufacturing to Asia, and we’re
now seeing some of that coming back into Mexico and even
some into South and North America.”
According to Cregg, in terms of growth, a lot is going to de-
pend on what happens with the global economy over that next 12
to 18 months. “There are certainly strong opportunities in certain
regions of the globe,” he added. “There also appear to be growth in
new applications where powder typically hasn’t been seen before.
Powder Coating Institute, a North American industry consortium,
published a study in 2011 highlighting new markets for powder
coatings, including tremendous opportunities for growth outside of
your typical metal binding and coating areas. Alternative substrates
and many new alternative areas where powder could become a
preference where it wasn’t considered in the past, are great oppor-
tunities out there for powder to penetrate into areas that it typically
hasn’t been associated with.”
“Many people look at powder coatings as a mature market, es-
pecially in some areas of the globe, like Europe,” said Cregg. “The
reality is powder is mature in the regions and markets where pen-
etration has occurred, but there are a number of new applications
and new regions where powder has strong growth potential.”

New Products

Powder coating development at Sherwin-Williams mirrors end-
user interest for higher performance powder coatings, including
ongoing advances in UV resistance and corrosion protection. “We
also continue to to investigate both lowering the cure temperature
and shortening the cure time,” said Cregg. “As opportunities ex-
pand beyond the traditional, we are developing new technologies
and modifying existing ones to ensure we have the coatings that
will meet the need of these new end-use applications.”
According to Conreur, the company has recently launched
three new products that are part of the Reveal range; ‘Reveal
Smooth,’ ‘Reveal Tempo’ and ‘Reveal Folio.’
‘Reveal Smooth’ is an eco-friendly premium MDF powder
coating solution that is being positioned as the smoothest of its
kind for the MDF segment. The product is not only environmen-
tally friendly but is also a cost effective alternative solution to
established technologies such as liquid paints. ‘Reveal Smooth’
offers high consistency in appearance and offers outstanding
scratch resistance. Using the product is simple and easy as it does
not require vinyl foils or edge banding to lift. ‘Reveal Smooth’
is being offered in dynamic and custom-made colors that can be
used to coat home and office furniture, retail displays, shelving
and cabinets for the bathroom and kitchen.

AkzoNobel Powder Coatings has launched the new Inter- pon F 2013 trend range, featuring colors chosen specifi- cally for indoor and outdoor furniture. Based on the five trends that experts believe are shaping the world today, the new Interpon F trend range provides the trend colors that will be seen in 2013 in the furniture industry.

The 2013 collection features 15 colors chosen for the interior furniture market and 15 colors that have been selected specifically for exterior furniture. The trend range is the complement to the standard Interpon color ranges and every shade is available in high quality, sustainable powder coatings.

“Furniture is at the heart of our everyday lives – in our homes,
our offices, our gardens and public spaces. We know color is ex-
tremely important to furniture designers – it’s what gives a piece
its personality and definition,” said international color expert and
AkzoNobel Powder Coatings furniture manager, Per Nimer, “De-
signers can benefit from the superior performance and protec-
tion Interpon F powder coatings bring to their products, whilst
ensuring their designs are in tune with the latest color fashions.“
This year the five key trends are ‘Home Factory,’ ‘Collec-
tive Passion,’ ‘Switching Off,’ ‘Art of Understanding’ and ‘Vi-
sual Solace’.

The 2013 trend range is taken from the AkzoNobel Colour futures collection. Once a year, the AkzoNobel Aesthetic Center meet with an international group of creative specialists from the fields of color, design, architecture and fashion – experts with their fingers on the pulse of the latest trends and color – to discuss and develop the hues that will be key for the following year.