Latin America Market
June 2017 www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 37
Central America
Other countries in the Central America/Caribbean region that are
exhibiting strong growth include Panama, expected to grow at 5. 9
percent this year. Panama still serves as the hemispheric port
for inter-regional trade, and captures much paint and coatings
business through distribution. The country also serves the maritime paint segment, led by international distributors like PPG,
and supported by domestic players like Pinturas AYA Panama,
Pinturas Panama and Cosmeplast Panama. Pinturas AYA, which
has a branch in Venezuela, has two manufacturing locations in
Panama, with production capacity of 1.5 million gallons per year,
according to company profile information.
Panama also had the largest per capita income growth in
the sub-region, at 5.2 percent in 2016. The multi-year Panama
Canal project and a boom in tourism have helped the construction industry lead the country’s growth sectors.
Costa Rica, with its stable economy and a predicted growth
rate of 3. 9 percent this year, is also a growing market in the
sub-region. “We have gained a 35 percent market share now, up
from 10 percent just a few years ago,” notes Flores.
Guatemala, too, is a growing market for paint and coatings
in Central America, with a 3. 3 percent expansion prediction.
“Axalta has also increased its ownership in Axalta Coating
Systems CA, a joint venture, headquartered in Guatemala.
Axalta Central America manufactures and distributes refinish, industrial and architectural coatings throughout Central
America and the Caribbean,” noted Gamboa.
This rising success has company. “We grew 20 percent in
Guatemala last year,” said Flores. The company introduced its
Limco brands there less than three years ago, he said. Norbin is
a more recent introduction for the company.
Argentina Reforms Pay Off
Among the major economies of South America, Argentina is predicted to have one of the highest growth rates this year, at 2.3 percent,
thanks to a new government and to renewed foreign investment.
“We see the Argentine market coming back with OEM sales and
exports, but there is no production recovery yet,” observed Flores.
Among new investments in the country, “We also are nearing
completion of a new manufacturing facility in Argentina which
will produce coatings for OEMs, refinish and industrial customers,” said Gamboa. “In Argentina we expanded our offerings with
the launch of Duxone refinish coatings, which are focused on the
more price sensitive automotive coating segment and formulated
to offer a high quality and a broad spectrum of colors at competitive prices. To support the introduction, Axalta introduced
‘Duxone on the Road,’ a program designed to share innovative
techniques with automotive refinishers in Argentina through a
series of mobile training courses. The campaign will reach 1,500
jobbers in 11 districts across the country during 2016,” he added.
Sherwin-Williams opened 11 company stores in Argentina
last year. The company also launched its next generation formulation of Loxon brand paint line in Argentina, “with overall
best-in-class performance for hide and durability,” the company
annual report notes.
Among other major paint and coatings manufacturers investing in Argentina, AkzoNobel noted that “The Alba brand
launched the company’s Visualizer application in Argentina,
with more than a million downloads to date.” Other company
advances there included energy efficiency: “At our Decorative
Paints site in Garin, Argentina, a number of cost-saving measures were introduced following an energy scan. These related
to the use of LEDs, high efficiency motors and compressor
optimization and resulted in savings of € 21,000 a year (over
$27,000),” the company reported.
Brazil Rebounds, Once Again
The economy of Brazil may demonstrate the greatest rebound
this year, moving from a contraction of 3. 6 percent last year to
a predicted 0.4 percent growth rate this year. “Hopefully we are
seeing the signs of recovery in in Brazil this year, but we still see
a struggle there,” said Flores.
Axalta, too is banking on recovery in Brazil. “For refinishers
in Brazil we added new colors for the Cormax line at competitive prices. We are improving our coverage in the market by expanding the number of distributor stores and are looking to win
new accounts and increase our growth,” says Gamboa.
Among other marketing moves in Brazil over the past year,
AkzoNobel launched Coralar, a low-VOC wall paint, compared with other options available in the market, the company
said. The company also improved its corporate citizenship in
Brazil, where such activities are highly scrutinized, by introducing “a water reduction program by our Decorative Paints
business that will result in more recycling of wash water, and
has already reduced waste by 60 tons,” the Akzo Nobel noted.
The company also built a new water treatment plant in Maua,
Sao Paulo State.
Similarly, Sherwin-Williams introduced “SuperPaint,
Design, Spazio and Classic paint lines, sold exclusively through
our company-operated stores and dedicated dealers,” the company reported.
Colombia Steady
Compared to its peer economies, Colombia’s economy is an example of sustainable growth. The GDP is expected to rise from
2.0 percent growth last year to 2.7 percent this year.
Domestic manufacturers like Pintuco and Andina Paint are
well positioned to take advantage of greater demand, while
international vendors are somewhat less represented. Among
recent marketing efforts, Pintuco launched the Monokote industrial fire protection line over the past year.
Axalta is very focused on the refinish segment in Colombia.
“In the Andean region, Axalta introduced recently the Centari
line of refinish coatings for collision body shops in Colombia.
Also in Colombia, Axalta launched the second edition of the
‘Axalta Color’s Partners Club,’ the first loyalty program in Latin
America. This program is intended to share innovative techniques with hundreds of automotive refinishers through training
designed to help them strengthen their skills and capabilities,”
Gamboa said. CW
