PAINT & PINTURA
Março 2009
www.paintshow.com.br
15
Chemical Distribution - Services
Commitment to the customer
Notwithstanding the world economic crisis which
affected it in the final months of 2008, the chemical
distribution market reported a positive performance for
last year. “In spite of the fall in sales in the last quarter
of 2008 due to the effects of foreign turbulences, we can
say that the chemical distribution industry had a good
performance, with an increase in sales, in US dollars, of
around 22 percent,” announced Rubens Medrano, presi-
dent of Associquim-Sincoquim.
This year, on the other
hand, as the crisis
persists in the first few
months, the market has
been responding with a
lot of caution and pru-
dence. “The industry has
adapted for the reality in
the marketplace by ad-
justing our inventories to
the currently levels of de-
mand from customers. We
are watching very closely
the production indicators
of the different indus-
trial businesses to which
we supply our products
in order to prevent any
discontinuation of supply
due to any shortage of
stocks of a given mate-
rial,” Medrano explains.
The main effects and
consequences of the crisis
include lack credit for bu-
sinesses, as there is much
less money in the market,
which leads banks to be
more cautious, reducing
the amount of money
that they loan and put-
ting a higher price on it.
In addition, factors like
the high volatility of the dollar, decreased exports, an
increased default rate and the impacts on the manu-
facturing sector, especially building and construction
and the automotive industry, may somehow create some
panic among companies and, as a result, lead to specu-
lative moves in terms of pricing, production factors and
international policies.
Associquim-Sincoquim’s president says that the entire
supply chain is facing the difficulties that are inhe-
rent in the weakening of business, such as “scarce and
expensive credit for working capital, as well as the fixed
costs and the normal decrease in manufacturing activi-
ties which occur in the first quarter of each year,” says
Medrano.
Industry in the Spotlight -
A bet on the Brazilian market
In the Brazilian market for 20 years now, Resinas Yser
supplies high-quality products, such as rosin (pitch) and
derivatives (pitch resins) to manufacturers of adhesives,
chewing gums, paints and coatings.
Constantly investing in research and development,
which is intrinsic to the
know-how of its technical
team, was and continues
to be Yser’s answer to
keep up the sustainable
growth of its business in
an increasingly compe-
titive market. All of the
resulting knowledge is
gained through the con-
tinuous action of Yser’s
central R&D laboratories
located at the company’s
European unit. Euro-
Yser Produtos Químicos,
located in Aveiro, Portu-
gal, is the most versatile
unit in terms of products,
produces rosin for the
European, Afrian and US
markets. Accordingly, it
is in the Aveiro unit that
the latest products ori-
ginate, as the unit is the
source of technology and
knowledge that Yser puts
at the service of their
customers everyday. Yser
Portugal is an all-export
company, with sales of
around € 28 million, and
R$ 35 million to Brazil.
The company exports to
Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, the United States and
Asia.
In order to further strengthen its Yser’s Brazilian ope-
ration, Resinas Yser invested R$ 18 million to build a
new industrial unit in Curitiba, Paraná (Brazil), where a
resins will be produced for the printing ink market, spe-
cifically for the flexo, offset and gravure segments. Since
the Brazilian market has experienced significant growth
and still shows great potential for more, Yser will provi-
de customers in South America with products employing
the same technology as those marketed in Europe.