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| Paint&pintura | Jan/Fev 2014
up 2.7 percent in relation to the same period in 2012, with
steel productionup8percent inChina, reaching586million
tons. Global capacity utilization held steady at 79 percent
in August 2013. Within this scenario, the WSA predicts an
apparent global steel consumption of 1.48 billion tons in
2013, up 3.1 percent over 2012, with China responsible for
an apparent consumption of 700 million tons, up 6.1 per-
cent in relation to 2012. For 2014, theWSA is predicting an
apparent consumption of 1.52 billion tons, up 3.3 percent
from the forecast for 2013.
According to the Brazil Steel Institute (IABr), domestic
crude steel production totaled 25.9million tons fromJanu-
ary to September 2013, in line with the volume produced
during the same period in 2012, while the production of
flat rolled steel reached 11.3 million tons, up 2 percent in
relation to the same period last year. In the year to Sep-
tember 2013, the apparent national consumption of flat
steel reached 10.6million tons, up4percent fromthe same
period in 2012, while sales of 9.2million tons in the domes-
tic market represented an increase of 7 percent. On the
other hand, imports totaling 1.4 million tons represented
a decrease of 13 percents, while exports totaling 1.2million
tonsweredown7.2percent fromthe sameperiod last year.
The IABr estimates that crude steel production will reach
34.5 million tons in 2013, in line with the production level
in 2012, with the domestic sale of 22.8million tons and ap-
parent consumption of 26million tons, up 5.3 percent and
3.2 percent over 2012, respectively. The IABr is estimating
an apparent consumption of 27 million tons in 2014, an
increase of 3.8 percent.
(Sources: IABr, WSA)
Alkyd Resins - Eco-Friendly Commodities
More sustainable technologies are part of the new devel-
opments in the alkyd resin market
Alkyd resins are among theworld’s leading resins in terms
of production, andalthough they are consideredcommodi-
ties, innovation is always possible by means of numerous
combinations of components andprocess variables,which
give rise to new products with rather specific functional-
ities for several kinds of paints and coatings.
Paulo Roberto Vieria Junior, PhD, technical coordinator at
Allnex’s Coatings Resins and Additives business in South
America, says there is no doubt that alkyd and acrylic
resins account for much of the volume of resins produced
worldwide, that it’s been reported that half amillion liters
are produced annually in Europe alone, and that the global
installed capacity for acrylic resins adds up to five million tons
per year. “It’s worth pointing out that a considerable part of
that volume is represented by captive production, meaning
that manufacturers themselves have these resins used in the
production of downstream articles, and this is particularly true
in Brazil, which has a strong vertical production culture and
where the market in decorative paints (with a commanding
share of approximately 90% of all paints) has hit the mark of
one billion liters per year for at least two years. However, this
applies only to more conventional resin grades, so there still is
a lot of room for value addition in specialty and distinguished
performance products.”
Alkyd resins find their main application in decorative paints,
which are closely followedby industrial andprotective coatings.
“Specifically speaking, there are two interesting scenarios for
2014 in the decorative and protective coatings segments. For
decorative coatings, despite the large share of captive produc-
tion, there’s some room for innovation and specialty products
that go further than just simplemodifications only in the length
of oil chains. However, as many of the projects for 2014 are
already under way, while some growth is still expected, a frac-
tion of this market has already grown to the extent needed for
getting ready for this year’s events and the boom that our real
estate market has experienced. On the protective coatings
front, there are really high expectations considering the stress
being placed on oil & gas and machinery & equipment, where
the demand for performance has been growing considerably,
with increasingly stringent validation and certification tests. In
either case, there are very bright prospects until 2016,” Vieira
Jr. anticipates.
Production Equipment – Mills, Dispensers and
Mixers
Very Positive Prospects for the Marketplace
With high growth expectations for 2014, themarket in produc-
tion equipment benefits from the Brazilian manufacturing
sector’s pursuit of modernization and investment in capacity
expansions and infrastructure.
The year 2014 gets off on the right foot for manufacturers of
equipment in general, and this is because there is a strong
trend towards automation, process improvement and technol-
ogy development aiming at capacity expansions and reduc-
tions in production costs.
Since this is a year of FIFA World Cup and elections in Brazil,
investments are expected to increase. “It’s time to increase
investments and improve productivity so that the required
structural reforms can be carried out to improve our infra-
