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10
Agosto 2013
PAINT & PINTURA
have been favored and, as a result, competition has in-
creased, causing domestic businesses to invest in perfor-
mance-enhancing products and scale and thus reduce
production costs in order to survive. All companies who
failed to address this issue have either seen their market
shares shrink or even disappear or been consolidated into
other businesses. Our company has managed not only to
survive, but also and most importantly increase our market
share, as it’s been years since we’ve been at the forefront
in importing performance products,” says Minérios Ouro
Branco’s sales director José Carlos Bartholi.
As several players have engaged in the business of supply-
ing the paint industry with mineral fillers, the companies
involved have been growing by either expanding existing
facilities or building up new ones. “In Brazil, the market
has become more and more competitive, and customers are
increasingly demanding. Any company willing to stay in
business has to provide consistent quality products, com-
mit to keeping up their availability and keep customer sat-
isfaction levels up at all times,” advises industrial chemist
Mario Henrique Rebouças, quality coordinator at Okyta.
Paints and coatings are considered one of the most revo-
lutionary market segments in terms of the technological
development that is boosted by its diversity of products
and quality requirements. “As a company entirely focused
on the production of high-performance kaolin products,
Monte Pascoal’s main goal is to add value to the end
products of our partners, so that they can achieve the
best yield, hiding, washability and several other proper-
ties, but at costs that are compatible with the reality in
the marketplace. Following this new guideline, our kaolin
products cease to play only their traditional role as fillers
and titanium dioxide extenders that reduce costs to make
way for the full realization of their potential for function-
alities,” says Fátima Fernandes, of Monte Pascoal’s Market-
ing & Sales department.
In summation, the paint industry has been continuously
seeking mineral fillers that deliver superior performance at
competitive costs and cover a broader formulation spec-
trum, while ensuring quality and increasingly sustainable
products.
Wetting Agents - Enhanced Performance and
Quality
The market in wetting agents has evolved a lot over the
past few years on the back of the development of new tech-
nologies, especially eco-friendly ones, which improve the
performance and quality of paints and coatings even on
the toughest substrates.
Suppliers of wetting agents strive each day to develop new
technologies aimed at significantly enhancing the per-
formance and cost-effectiveness of paints and coatings.
Advances on this front have led to a considerable increase
in the demand for wetting agents, as they optimize the
production and improve the quality of paints and coatings,
while reducing both formulation and processing costs.
The ongoing improvement of wetting agents allows the
production of differentiated paints and coatings, making
these products more and more appealing and increasing
their sales. The new technologies that follow are in line
with the trend towards zero-VOC, APEO-free and low-odor
wetting agents produced with materials from renewable
sources, “which makes wetting agents more appealing to
the industry, thereby boosting their sales,” says Sérgio
Brito, Coatings & Additives sales manager for Evonik’s Tego
business unit. “In addition, wetting agents are needed in
water-based or high-solids paint and coating formula-
tions to enhance both their tinting and hiding power. Since
the demand for lower-odor and more sustainable paints
and coatings has been increasing year after year, wetting
agents can be said to have a promising market potential.”
There are two types of wetting agents for the paint in-
dustry: filler and pigment wetting agents, and substrate
wetting agents. “Filler wetting agents are products that
act in the solid/liquid interface to facilitate the blending
of fillers in the liquid product, thus keeping them perfectly
homogenized and improving the system’s gloss, hiding and
viscosity properties, while substrate wetting agents act on
the liquid/surface interface, lowering the surface tension
of the liquid. By facilitating the contact between the liquid
and the substrate, these products enhance the adhesion
of the former to the latter and improve the coating film’s
leveling, gloss and uniformity properties,” says Fernando
Guirau, responsible for D’Altomare’s technical support and
sales team.
Wetting agents are indispensable ingredients in the formu-
lations of most systems for segments, such as printing inks,
automotive and industrial coatings, decorative paints, etc.
Acrylic Resins - “Greener” and More
Sustainable Technologies
The market in alkyd resins has evolved in several ways,
displaying growth in both supply and demand, thanks to
improvements in the Brazilian economy and emerging ap-
plications. The same goes to the technology front, as com-
panies seek products that not only meet current technical