www.paintshow.com.br
16
Abril 2011
PAINT & PINTURA
Inorganic Pigments - Coloring
with responsibility
Providing excellent value for mo-
ney and featuring great technical
properties, such as high weathe-
ring resistance and outstanding
chemical strength, tinting power
and hiding power, inorganic pig-
ments remain on the rise in the
paint industry, reflecting consis-
tent technological breakthroughs
that minimize heavy metal con-
tent to meet specific requirements
of both domestic and internatio-
nal laws.
Today’s major trend in the paint
industry is the use of inorganic
pigments with low heavy metal
contents. In addition, it is worth
pointing out that the use inor-
ganic pigments based on heavy
metals has been declining over the
years due to the very restrictions
that are being imposed by the
market.
In 2011, the Brazilian market
in inorganic pigments is very
busy and will continue to display
strong demand over the months
to come. In fact, this market is
keeping pace with the country’s
economic growth, especially in
building and construction, where
pigments like titanium dioxide, for
example, are extensively used.
Compared to other pigments
types, such as organic pigments,
inorganic pigments provide great
value for money, as well as such
technical benefits as excellent che-
mical strength, maximum light-
-fastness, and great hiding and
tinting power. “The new technolo-
gies that have been developed for
manufacturing organic pigments
over the past few years have not
yet fully overcome the technical
restrictions on their use, parti-
cularly as regards the increasing
demand for heavy metal-free
products. Accordingly, in addi-
tion to other properties that are
inherent in inorganic pigments,
such as outstanding chemical
strength in all media, very high
light-fastness and excellent hiding
and tinting power, which provide
manufacturers with an edge by
themselves, they also use mate-
rials with minimal contents of
heavy metals in their formulation,
thereby meeting the requirements
of both the domestic and interna-
tional law. Another remarkable
aspect is that, in addition to such
technical advantages, they deliver
an excellent cost-benefit ratio in
the end-product,” says Givanildo
Ferreira, national sales manager
for Lanxess’ Inorganic Pigments
Group (IPG).
Acrylic Resins - A tough
scenario
Since last year the market in
acrylic resins has been affected by
a price increase, which is mostly
due to the continuous price incre-
ases for the raw materials used in
acrylic resin formulations. For the
most part, the coatings segment
showed price adjustments and in-
creases throughout the year 2010,
and then remained stable at the
beginning of 2011.
That scenario results from the
growing demand for acrylics
around in all industries around
the world, as well as for other
or new applications. “In 2010,
acrylic monomers saw their price
increase at rates ranging from 30
to 55 percent, depending on the
composition, and the increase for
styrene monomers was around 30
percent. Prices for acrylic resins
in the domestic market have been
held back thanks partly to the
depreciation of the US Dollar
compared to the Brazilian Real,”
says André Luiz de Oliveira, ma-
rket development supervisor for
Coatings at Reichhold.
On the suppliers’ side, one of the
challenges facing the industry
is the perception of a focus on
the international market. As the
Asian markets have been cons-
tantly growing, some suppliers
have chosen to sell and con-
centrate their efforts on those
markets, imposing limitations
on production in the Brazilian
market and eventually triggering
a chain reaction which ends up
price increases or, in the worst
case scenario, short supply.
“During the year 2010 and now,
at the beginning of 2011, we’ve
noticed that there’s been a lot of
business in Asian markets, which
has caused part of the supply of
raw materials to be allocated to
that aggressive region. Several
suppliers mention the limitation
on production and availability
of materials for the year 2011.
It is noticeable how fast growth
in Asian markets clearly enforces
the law of supply and demand,
as the small supply and large
demand stemming from growth
in the Brazilian market cause
prices to increase substantially.
The shortage of a key raw mate-
rial in the marketplace triggers a
chain reaction across the supply
chain, leading to price adjust-
ments from the base raw mate-
rial to specialty products, while
still allowing production limita-
tions. It’s a little hard to name
a number, though, but we could
expect an average price increa-