Coatings World - JUNE 2013

Hempel. “The oil and gas (O&G) segment maintains good
growth especially in connection to the massive gas projects
that take place currently in South East Asia, the unconvention-
al O&G production in USA, the downstream projects in Saudi
Arabia and the offshore activity in the yards of Singapore,
Korea and China. Thermal power generation remains the most
important energy provider around the world whereas infra-
structure, civil construction, water and waste water projects
are still on-going in many areas. Mining faced some pressure
due to the prices of metals, however the segment is expected
to recover. Hempel’s strong global presence and value proposi-
tion in the above segments resulted in excellent results during
2012 and a considerable increase of the business and market
share in the protective segment.”
The industrial coatings market participates in a wide range
of sub-segments, offering a wealth of growth opportunities.

Valspar focuses on a number of key sub-segments in industrial, including coatings for agriculture and construction equipment (ACE), building products including pre-coated metal, oil and gas pipelines, shipping containers, freight rail and transportation, and liquid and powder sold through distribution.

“Going forward, we believe that the industrial coatings
market has tremendous growth potential,” said Polet. “One
illustrative example is the infrastructure investment required
to move hydrocarbons from new production regions to
refineries. This will drive growth in the demand for coatings
going forward. Another example is rising living standards.
There are approximately 150 million people that will enter
China’s middle class in the next five to 10 years, demanding
more technically advanced products. This is like doubling
the entire middle class of the USA. Industrial products that
go into the manufacture of consumer products will increase
globally and we plan to be well positioned in emerging mar-
kets to capture that growth.”
The ACE market, represents a strong growth opportunity
for Valspar. Demand for agricultural equipment will remain
strong as the demand for food stuffs increases and farmers in
developing countries can earn a return on investing in larger
farms and the equipment needed to work them productively.
The construction market is on the verge of a rebound in many
global markets, while the mining market remains impacted by
weak economics in mining commodities, and weak demand for
additional equipment.