CEO Forum
our vehicle OEM and industrial customers, we rebranded our
entire E-Coat product line under a new brand name – AquaEC™
– to provide a consistent global identity. In China, we introduced Voltatex electrical insulation products and launched and
renewed our Axalta-Huajia joint venture.
CW: What areas of the paint and coatings
market represent the most growth
opportunities for your company?
Büchner: If you look at the Purchasing Managers Index for
January the majority of global manufacturing output is still anticipating expansion in the industrial sectors. Overall the global
picture is one of uncertainty with a mixed outlook. U.S. growth
remained positive, while China remained neutral. Europe saw a
slight improvement in the rate of expansion.
Due to the expected contraction in Russia, the reduced
growth expectations for China, and the slowdown in Latin
America, which was already obvious in 2014, we do not expect significant positive changes in the markets during 2015.
We don’t count on positive tailwinds from the market; our
strategy is based on organic growth and operational excellence
with sustainability at the heart of what we do. Our long-term
growth potential is on the basis of end-user segment growth
through strong brands and innovative products, both in consumer and industrial markets.
Bunch: We see growth potential across much of PPG’s portfolio. Much of this is due to our broad geographic reach and
expansive coatings product portfolio, which allows us to
tap into middle class growth in emerging regions and growing global demand for new coatings technologies. For example, the market for architectural coatings is expected to
grow at five percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR),
driven primarily by a growing middle class in emerging regions. Asia Pacific and Latin America could lead this growth
– with projected growth of six to seven percent – while the
U.S. and Canada are expected to increase by about four percent and Europe by three percent per year. Orr and Boss
forecasts that general industrial will be the fastest growing
end use, increasing at seven percent through 2018. Globally,
industrial production is projected to grow at a 3. 6 percent
CAGR. Also projected to grow at seven percent is maintenance and protective due to infrastructure investments in
emerging regions, as
well as to energy investments in the U.S.
Automotive OEM coat-
ings is expected to grow
at almost five percent,
led by build growth
in Latin America and
Asia. We expect a con-
tinued focus on fuel
efficiency to drive continued innovations for weight reduc-
tion. Given our position globally, we have access to these
varying growth areas.
Cao: The industrial wood paint market will focus on environmentally friendly products, definitely. We think the fight against
smog and implementation of new laws on environment protection will most favor those products such as water-based wood
paint, low TDI hardener, high solid wood paint, etc. Regarding
decorative paint retail or project, decorative paints will represent important growth opportunities.
Jullien: The biggest growth opportunities are in Asia and the
Americas. However, in both regions growth will be led by certain segments
and sub-segments. There is
a great deal of
ongoing investment in the energy industry in South East Asia
at the moment, for example, as governments push to meet the
energy demands of a growing population and economy.
Hempel is a world-leading supplier of coatings to the decorative, protective, marine, container and yacht markets. In all
these segments, we offer a broad product portfolio and a range
specialist coatings for specific sub-segments, corrosive conditions and applications.
In line with our One Hempel – One Ambition strategy, our
growth efforts are focused on three key areas: Decorative,
Protective (our fastest-growing segment) and Marine, and all
these segments show good growth potential.
Roy: We see growth opportunity in both Decorative and
Industrial sectors in the Indian market. In the Decorative sector,
we see good growth opportunities in water based emulsion paint both at economy
end and at premium end.
On the Industrial side, we
should see a significant increase in demand for protective coatings on the back
of increase on spend by the
Government on infrastructure developments.
Shaver: We see opportunities across most of our end-use markets. In mature regions, we hope to continue to win new business despite strong customer loyalties to competitor brands.
Emerging markets provide a second focus area as economic
growth fuels the car parc and, consequently, the aftermarket.
Emerging market growth also presents opportunities for our industrial business. Our Nap-Gard FBE coatings for oil and gas
pipelines can take advantage of oil exploration, economic development translates into the need for heavy duty trucks and
construction equipment, and our Alesta architectural coatings
can leverage building construction. The need for new coating
