Coatings World - December 2013

Kerry Pianoforte, Editor

Powder coating manufacturers Coatings World spoke with reported that the market is growing. Powder coat- ing manufactures are working on improving durability, corrosion protection and lowering cure temperature to drive growth, in addition, to moving into new emerging markets around the world.

“Although powder coatings, as with many products, have
not had quite the level of expansion that anyone would love to
see, with the economy still in a slow growth mode, the growth
in powder has been faster than that of the economy,” said Ron
McMahon, marketing director powder coatings, Sherwin-
Williams. “It continues to gain acceptance as a viable technol-
ogy among finishers and their customers.”
“Powder coatings markets performed in a similar fashion
to other paint and coatings markets and were impacted by
the overall economic slowdown in the past,” said John Wolff,
AkzoNobel’s general manager for Powder Coatings. “We are
very pleased to now see the European market stabilizing, with
some remaining volatility. We also see North America on a
recovery path and China is coming back, as well. As a global
market leader in powder coatings we believe that we are best
positioned to benefit from the positive dynamics in these mar-
kets. At the same time, we are making very good progress in
improving our operational efficiency in Europe and some of the
other mature markets.”
Stricter environmental regulations in the paint and coat-
ings industry have certainly given powder coatings a boost as
there are several advantages to the powder coating process, the
main one being that it does not require solvents, and only minor
amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are released
during the cure.

“VOC and solvent-free technologies like powder are advanc-
ing and benefiting from stricter environmental legislation,” said
Wolff. “It is, for example, easier for an applicator to get a license
for powder due to its lower impact on the environment. This
applies to the entire supply chain. We have and will continue to
invest in powder coatings as we see it as a more sustainable al-
ternative to liquids. As well as being free from solvents, powder
coatings are easy to use – straight from the box. They are also
recyclable and easy and safe to dispose of. This is in line with
AkzoNobel’s ambitious sustainability targets.”