by Sean Milmo
European Correspondent
milmocw@rodmanmedia.com
The European coatings sector has been showing resilience in the face of yet anoth- er slowdown in the European economy.
The sales and profits of many coatings companies, particularly those involved in decorative
paints, appear to be withstanding the effects
of a drop in GDP and industrial output growth
across much of Western Europe.
However, looming on the horizon is the danger that the Ukraine crisis will trigger a long-term decline in demand for foreign-produced
coatings in Russia and the rest of the former
Soviet Union.
It could also have a knock-on effect on
neighboring Eastern European countries now
members of the European Union, which have
been achieving higher growth rates in recent
years than those in Western Europe.
Robust demand in parts of Eastern Europe
in the first half of this year has helped to boost
the overall financial performance in Europe as
a whole among coatings companies.
This is at a time when the economies of the
18-member eurozone have started faltering after displaying signs of a pick-up in the second
half of last year. After recording a meager rise
of 0.2 percent in the first quarter, GDP growth
in the eurozone slipped to zero in the second
quarter compared to the first.
The German economy, the EU’s manufacturing powerhouse, contracted by 0.2 percent in the second quarter against the first,
while Italy went into recession with a similar decrease of 0.2 percent and France had
zero growth.
Outside the eurozone the bright spot in
Western Europe was the UK which achieved
The sales
and profits of
many coatings,
particularly
those involved
in decorative
paints, appear to
be withstanding
the effects of a
drop in GDP and
industrial output
growth across
much of Western
Europe.
European Coatings Sector Shows Improvement
