Catherine Diamond, Associate Editor
The resins market has continued to exhibit signs of growth over the last several years. Multiple factors have con- tributed to this market’s expansion, including the global
health of the coatings market as a whole. According to Sheryl
Southwell, president of Specialty Polymers, increased residential and commercial construction activity is a major driver of
growth both domestically and globally.
“It seems like every mid-size to large city I visit has several
multi-family housing developments under construction,” she
said. “There is also increased activity in the packaging industry
that is propelled by expanding food, beer and wine markets.
Add to this the expectation of increased spending for repair and
replacement of aging infrastructure.”
Globally, home and commercial construction is rising, some-
thing Arkema, Eric Dumain, North American commercial direc-
tor for Coatings, said benefits not only the coatings industry, but
the adhesives and sealants markets as well.
“The economy in general is growing stronger and we are
seeing the ‘wealth effect’ directly influence the sale of coatings,” he said. The industrial coatings sector is also strengthening, he added.
“While the economy was softer last year, an increase in the
sales of durable goods, appliances and home and garden supplies is positively impacting the sale of factory applied coatings
and the materials that go into them.
“In protective coatings, we expect increased municipal
spending on infrastructure to drive sales of traffic markings and
coating materials used to refurbish metal and concrete structures,” he said.
Dumain added that the marine market is taking longer
to recover, though he expects to see some growth in 2017
and beyond.
The water-based resin market has steadily grown and increased in the last ten years, according to Yasmin Sayed-Sweet,
vice president of sales and marketing at Alberdingk Boley. “The
main growth contributors are stricter VOC regulations and advancement in the WB resin technology to meet or exceed the
performance needs,” she said.
Materials also saw a positive upswing in the global resins
market, said Sun Chemical’s Michael T. Venturini, marketing director, Coatings, especially in sales of UV-curable, waterborne,
and powder coating resins.
“The resins market remains highly competitive,” he said,
“but trends dictated both by legislation and end consumers in
the marketplace that focus on technical service, quality, perfor-
mance and environmental considerations provide Sun Chemical
tremendous opportunities for growth because of the strength
of its research and development capabilities, backed by resin
engineering from DIC, our parent company.”
For example, Venturini said, environmental regulations and
social change for sustainable raw materials with less environ-
mental impact are driving rapid change and innovation in all
segments of the coatings market. The trend continues to move
forward in Europe and the United States, but is quickly growing
in Asia driven by China’s regulations for improved air quality
and reduced VOC emissions.
“This has required paint producers to transition to powder,
waterborne or other low-VOC technologies. The ever-growing
importance of waterborne technology has created exciting innovation opportunities for resin manufacturers. Sun Chemical
Advanced Materials will continue to work with DIC to focus
our research and development efforts on expanding our product
offerings for sustainable coatings.
“We will also work with DIC to provide resins with unique
performance properties that are tailored specially for the end
user’s application, such as: one pack primers for adhesion to
polypropylene and TPO that allow for lightweighting and recyclability of automotive parts. In addition, we have developed a
range of acrylic binders in both solvent- and water-based technologies that meet the stringent requirements of premium global
automotive manufacturers,” Venturini said.
Balancing demands and costs
Customers in this market have required more and more lowor no-VOC resins in addition to increased performance and reduced costs – a tall order for any resins supplier. So, how do
leading companies find the balance between rising demands and
the inevitable rising costs associated with them? According to
Specialty Polymers’ Southwell, meeting both performance and
environmental goals is a subject that comes up repeatedly when
her company’s sales and technical teams visit customers. She
said that manufacturers are looking to Specialty Polymers as
their resin supplier in order to help them exceed these goals.
Cost is certainly part of the conversation, she said, as is the need
Resins Market Update
As the stability of the resins market is solidified, customer demands are evolving.
