www.paintshow.com.br
PAINT & PINTURA
Novembro 2009
15
2008. Even though the crises hit the supply chains of
several industry segments, and the global market is
very dynamic and subject to fluctuations, suppliers
have been facing the crisis in search of new solutions
and applications, as well as productivity, competitive-
ness and quality improvements. Notwithstanding the
slower pace, the markets cannot stop developing.
“We can say that the world crisis this year has not
affected the methacrylic monomers business in Brazil.
Globally speaking, the availability of several raw
materials has been reduced, but because our business
is integrated, we haven’t suffered the impacts. Our
production plants have kept up their traditionally
outstanding performance all through the period, and
our partners are assured our supply even at the most
critical times,” says Flávio Martins, regional sales ma-
nager, Central and South America, Evonik.
The fall in prices for the main monomers was the most
significant consequence of the crisis. “That factor
led the industry to respond quickly by discontinuing
production units that were old and little profitable,
and the resulting decrease in supply wasn’t noticed in
the first half of 2009 due to the low demand, but then,
little by little, when consumption started to grow, the
difficulty getting those monomers left some segments
in short supply of the product, and some with ma-
jor shipment delays,” says Guillermo Castillo, sales
director at Brisco, adding that the economic rebound
and the lack of announcements of new production
units indicate that the markets will be well-balanced
over the next few years, with a high sensitivity to any
currency fluctuations. “In our view, the growth rate
for 2009 will be very close to that of 2008. For 2010,
we expect to grow 7 percent over 2008.”
Having the worst moments of the crisis behind us, we
can now see economic growth pick up in various parts of
the world. Brazil succeeded in overcoming them in a ra-
ther positive way. The efforts made by companies to this
end are noticeable, reflecting new developments and te-
chnologies. These and other signs allow us to believe that
2010 will see economic growth at very positive rates.
Alkyd Resins / An inevitable advance
There is a new global reality in the alkyd resins indus-
try, as manufacturers follow a major trend towards
producing environment-friendly and human-friendly
resins in response to the demand for low-VOC (Vola-
tile Organic Compound) products without prejudice
to performance, thereby improving the physical and
chemical properties of paints. The result is an increa-