Coatings World - June 2014

Bridget Klebaur, Associate Editor

As 2014 progresses, the metallic pigments market has been growing, with the emerging demand in Asia driving rowth for pigment suppliers. The companies Coatings World spoke to reported expanding product lines and a positive attitude overall for 2014.

By far the largest consumer of metallic pigments is China, which leads the world in automotive manufacturing.

“ECKART sees a positive development of its market for ef-
fect pigments in the coatings market,” said Jörg Krames, global
business line manager coatings and plastics, ECKART. “Besides
a general strong demand the growth is still driven by the emerg-
ing markets in Asia, with China being the engine. With the ac-
celerating economy we are expecting this situation to continue
and assume further growth but at a moderate scale in 2014.”
Metallic pigments continue to be a growth area for Sun
Chemical in the first part of 2014. The com
“We will continue to expand our Benda-Lutz brand of pre-
mium metallic effects for both liquid and powder coatings,”
Aaron Hollman, global product manager, Effect Pigments, Sun
Chemical Performance Pigments. ”As a leading global pigment
manufacturer, we are optimistic that Sun Chemical Performance
Pigments will overcome global economic challenges and see
continued growth for the balance of 2014 and beyond.”

Major Trends

Trends in the market remain focused on customer’s needs and key among these needs are products that comply with environmental regulations, while delivering exceptional performance characteristics.

“The development of our technologies is aligned to our
customers’ needs as well as to REACH standards,” Korg said.
“That is to say, for example, that the increasing demand for
environmentally-friendly coatings fuels the development of
those pigments. Therefore pigments for powder coatings as
well as stabilized and encapsulated
pigments for water-based coatings
systems enjoy particular attention.
Also, other developments within
our portfolio are initiated by stricter
regulations, for example APEO- and
nickel-free products. In this respect
it is of particular interest how the
emerging economies like in Asia are
going to adapt these regulations”
Metallic pigments offer users a
high-end, eye catching look for their
products. Metallic pigments must
offer both high performance and environmental compliance.
In order to remain competitive metallic pigment manufacturers
must stay ahead on these trends and focus R&D on translating
these demands into a reality.
Typically new pigment technologies are being driven by the
needs of the marketplace. Sun Chemical reports that is custom-
ers are very interested in developing metallic finishes using more
environmentally friendly aqueous systems. Sun Chemical has a
wide range of VOC-free aluminum dispersions and encapsulat-
ed aluminum effects that provide an unlimited array of metallic
finishes for waterborne.

“We will continue to focus our research and development efforts on expanding our product offerings and technologies geared towards sustainability,” Hollman said. “Another key trend and challenge is the sustained high costs of raw materials. Sun Chemical anticipates that raw material prices will remain at their current high levels. However, we are certainly aware of the high degree of volatility in the global economy. Therefore, we will continue to monitor the key raw material indexes and focus our manufacturing team on process and raw material productivity. In addition, we continue to see increases in regulatory compliance costs.”

Expectations for the metallics market remain positive as 2014 progresses, with companies Coatings World spoke to reporting a positive development in the market.