Europe
Strengthening EU Economies
Should Benefit Coatings Sector
by Sean Milmo
European Correspondent
milmocw@rodmanmedia.com
The European coatings sector is expected to benefit in the second half of this year from a gradual strengthening of the
European Union’s economies, particularly in
Western Europe.
However optimism about the industry’s
short-term future has been dented by worries
about the impact on Europe of the economic
slowdown in China and problems in some key
emerging markets, particularly in Russia and
neighboring states on the EU periphery.
These difficulties could weaken the need for industrial coatings among exporting customers, such
as manufacturers of automobiles and machinery.
But the renewed economic vigor in the
EU should be resilient enough to withstand
setbacks in export markets since it is driven pri-
marily by higher consumer demand boosted by
higher wages and falling unemployment.
GDP in the EU’s 28 member states will rise
by 1.8 percent this year, according to the latest
economic forecast of the European Commission,
the EU’s Brussels-based executive. This would
be the EU’s highest annual growth rate for five
years and would bring the Union’s output back
to the levels prior to the 2008 financial crisis.
The Commission expects that there is sufficient momentum behind the current increase in
private consumption for the growth rate to rise
to two percent next year.
In recent years growth in coatings sales in
the EU have tended to be closely aligned to rises
in GDP, especially in those countries which have
been performing relatively well economically.
In Germany, the economic powerhouse of
Europe, GDP is predicted to expand by 1.9
percent this year and two percent in 2016,
The renewed
economic vigor in
the EU should be
resilient enough
to withstand
setbacks in export
markets since it is
driven primarily by
higher consumer
demand boosted
by higher wages
and falling
unemployment.
