Coatings World - September 2013

operations.

Support activities for mining (NAICS code 2131), which includes drilling and making geological observations at prospective mineral, oil and gas sites, grew about 32 percent over the last 12 months. Meanwhile, the high price of oil this year has contributed to 27 percent growth among wholesalers of petroleum and petroleum products (NAICS 4247) and 18 percent growth among gasoline stations (NAICS 4471).

Of course, just because an industry has been growing strong for the past 12 months, there’s no guarantee that growth will necessarily continue, Schaefer noted. But looking at some of the drivers of recent growth may yield clues on potential future growth.

Schaefer noted that increasing reliance
of U.S. companies on computers could
have contributed to the nearly 18 percent
growth experienced by computer systems
design and related services (NAICS 5415)
over the last 12 months. This industry has
also had steady growth in previous years.

“It’s been steady since 2010,” Schaefer
said. “Even in 2009, when almost all in-
dustries had sales declines, computer sys-
tems design grew about 4 percent, which
usually signifies a stable industry.”
Five out of the 11 privately held indus-
tries depicted range in 12-month growths
of between 21 percent and 32 percent are
industries that naturally spin off a high
demand for coatings and paints.

1. Mining 32%

2. Petrochemicals 27%

3. Industrial Machinery 25%

4. Architectural & Structural 23%

5. Metal Working Machinery 21%
Since this exceptional growth in volume
of these units took place and, provided no
catastrophic economic winds blow through
the global economy, these industries are
the “sweet spots” for ancillary growth go-
ing forward and, will drive up the need for
coatings and paints in the process.

These industries, while technically may be considered “old” and customer-ready, they are not mature while on the other end of the life-cycle spectrum, and simply because they are growing at exceptional rates (steep growth curve), their respective coatings and paints needs are certainly not embryonic.