Revista Paint & Pintura - Edição 232

CLIPPING PAINT&PINTURA | Maio 2018 | 9 innovative features strengthen both our company and our market share,” Souza concludes. The full version of this interview, available in Portuguese only, goes into further details regarding the company’s plans. PAINT & PINTURA AWARDS - WINNERS OF COATINGS INDUSTRY “OSCARS” ANNOUNCED As the twenty-second edition of the Paint & Pintura Awards appro- aches, we announce in this issue the 53 winners that have earned trophies for their verve, dedication, ethics and professionalism. The grand annual event presenting what is known as the “Oscars” of the paint and coatings industry will honor the winners in 53 categories for major suppliers of raw materials to the industry and paint manufacturers, as well as those professionals who stood out and contributed the most to the sector, in the Personality of the Year categories. The 22nd Paint & Pintura Awards is taking place onMay 18 at Vila dos Ipês, in São Paulo, with representatives of companies from across the coatings supply chain and leaders of the sector’s major industry associations will be in attendance. The Paint & Pintura Suppliers Survey kicked off on November 6, 2017 and extended toApril 15, 2018. The voteswere cast via themagazine’s Internet portal at www.paintshow.com.br. Comprehensive informa- tion on the survey’s methodology are provided at the end of this piece in the Portuguese version. There you will see the winners in all 39 categories for suppliers of raw materials, eight for paint companies, and six for Personality of the Year. Check out the Portuguese section of this issue to see the winners of the 22nd Paint & Pintura Awards. SÍLICAS - APPLICATION-SPECIFIC ADVANCES Designed and formulated for all kinds of paint products considering the requirements of each individual application, silicas foster high performance wherever they are used. Thanks to their many special properties, silicas are widely used to formulate paints and coatings, where they impart clarity, viscosity, UV resistance, good thixotropy, improved leveling, and abrasion resistance, while being able to act as a suspension agent to prevent solid particles - pigments and fillers - from settling, according to Sidney Nascimento, Cabot’s regional sales manager for South Ame- rica. “These are some of the features of our line of fumed silicas. It’s also worth pointing out that in powder coatings formulations, these silicas deliver excellent flow properties, avoiding any lumping problems, and improving applicability.” Having performance raw materials available, the Brazilian market leaves nothing to be desired compared to other countries, accor- ding to Evonik Coatings Additives business manager Regina Kawai. “Increasingly sought are solutions to meet application-specific requirements, as well as more sustainable options, whether from an economic or environmental point of view. Silicas are well-suited for all types of paints and coatings, since they provide a variety of benefits and can be formulated based on what is desired to be achieved in the end product.” Alexandre Lucato, Imerys technical manager for South America, says that with all of those benefits, the demand for silicas has been increasing considerably over the past several years in the Brazilian marketplace. “This increase in demand is especially owing to the fact that silicas impart key properties to coatings that other minerals don’t, from morphological, physical and chemical aspects, particularly with diatomites, to the perfor- mance features they deliver, such as higher yields, greater mechanical strength, and matting action.” Wacker marketing manager Gustavo Soares also notes that the silica business has been growing above the average for the manufacturing sector at large in Brazil. “We’ve also seen an increase in the number of orders received for developments that include some of our specialties—hydrophobic fumed silica products that work as performance-enhancing aids in coatings and are used in special applications requiring high performance. This favorable movement has been observed in all major HDK silica markets, such as automotive and industrial coatings, composites, cosmetics, and specialty adhesives.” PLASTIC PACKAGING - ATTRACTIVE AND VERSATILE Plastic containers have carved out a place in the paint market for several reasons, from their various sizes, colors and bold designs to their safety, stackability, lids, handles, and printing techniques. With the advent of plastic packaging materials, paint ma- nufacturers in Brazil began to use plastic pails to pack their water-based products. And the demand from this industry keeps growing thanks to several factors, including the ability to make containers more attractive, featuring unique designs and colors, their safety lids and handles, printing quality, and easy stacking, among other great features of plastic packaging materials. The rise in the market share of plastic pails goes one and has reached a point of no return, according to Fibrasa regional sales manager Paulo Bernardes. “It’s been quite a while since leadingmanufacturers started adhering to plastic pails, but that process has accelerated significantly over the past couple of years, and this year will be marked by changes in plastic pails. However, this type of container still cannot be used for solvent- -based paints, but only for water-based ones, while being also suitable for fillers, waterproofing coatings, complements, as well as both premium and economy paints. Coming up with a material compatible with solvent-based formulations is the greatest challenge facing plastic pail manufacturers. All other challenges have been overcome, and paint consumers today already prefer plastic pails.” Bomix sales director Alexandre Rosário points out the real evolution that plastic pail technology has seen. “Investments in state-of-the-art technologies, aswell asmolds andmachinery aimed at keeping pacewith the requirements plastic packaging materials for paints have to fulfill, have resulted in growth in both the supply of new products for this market segments and the demand for plastic pails in several areas in Brazil. The quality of the printing process, and the diversity in shapes,