Revista Paint & Pintura - Edição 234

CLIPPING PAINT&PINTURA | Julho 2018 | 7 mines, which can compromise their reliability as to whether they can supply products that are consistently up to specifi- cations within the deadlines agreed upon with customers,” says Lamil technical sales director Kensley Alves de Oliveira. Rather than being just a filling ingredient, mineral additives have been widely used to play more relevant roles in paint and coating formulations. “Currently, the case has beenmade that they’re not just a minor ingredient, as they can now play a more prominent part in the formulation without requiring investments in any other types of higher added-value specialty chemicals. As the supply increases, so, too, does competition, which has pushed companies tomake investments to diversify and differentiate their product range. In this context, high- -purity, surface-treated, small particle-sized fillers are some of our specialties,” says Adexim-Comexim chemist Fábio Henrique Pereira Santos. The Brazilianmarket has displayed growing interest inmineral products that not only meet traditional requirements, such as cost reduction, high brightness, and ultra-fine particle sizes, but also reflect a search for products that will either make great performance pigment extenders or provide other meaningful benefits through specific properties. “These can be hiding power, strength, rheology, gloss, UV blocking, molecular filtration/absorption or chemical inertia, among others,” Marcel Gutierrez, sales director at Mineração Vale do Juquiá, points out. COALESCING AGENTS - INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS MORE SUSTAINABLE TOO Growing new developments yield low-VOC or VOC-free, low- -odor, performance coalescing agents produced with raw materials from renewable sources. Much of the development in the coalescing agent market, as with all other products involved in the decorative paint seg- ment in Brazil, stems from new, more restrictive regulations coming into effect to meet society’s demand for friendlier products not only environmentally speaking, but also from the point of view of users, or applicators and consumers. “In our country, for example, there has been a standard in place since 2015 which sets forth the methodology to be used for quanti- fying VOCs (volatile organic compounds), definingwhat is and what is not a VOC-emitting product. That standard is ABNT NBR 16388:2015, which the Brazilian Association for Technical Standards developed with the support of ABRAFATI (short in Portuguese for Brazilian CoatingsManufacturers Association). As for growth in this industry, it has indeed fallen short of the expected in the past few years, sometimes for economic reasons, and others due to changes in consumer patterns. The take-away here is it’s a major challenge to grow in a changing industry,”Marcos Basso, development manager at Eastman’s Coatings business for Latin America, points out. According to Fabiana Marra, Oxiteno global business head for coatings, there is a direct correlation between coalescent usage levels in the industry and performance improvement in paints and coatings, because coalescents provide a superior finish on a smooth and even surface, while ensuring water resistance as well. “In addition to plasticizing the polymer phase during formulation, coa- lescing agents deliver further improved adhesion while ensuring flush and uniform coating films,” she says. “It’s worth pointing out that there’s a growing concern right now about the environment and human health, which is known to lead to a trend towards more stringent regula- tions for chemicals, particularly compounds that humans come into contact with. That being said, the paint and coatings industry is pro-active in seeking environmentally friendlier alternatives that combine low technology, low odor and low VOC levels, but also deliver excellent coa- ting film formation performance while providing good value for money nonetheless.” Polystell sales manager Andre Rosa, too, says that the market has evolved into products featuring high perfor- mance and low VOC levels, especially when it comes to coalescing agents for high value-added coatings, whose typical cost-benefit ratios are more suitable to today’s economy in Brazil, in both discount and standard for- mulations. “We are optimistic in our outlook because we’ve been noticing increased consumption of various coalescing agent grades, including orders being placed so our customers can test new formulations they are developing, and that adds to our positive expectations for the Brazilian economy for the second half of this year, making up for some of the previous months when sales were below expectations.” METAL PACKAGING - SYNONYMOUS WITH QUALITY AND SAFETY To name a few of the points of difference for which they are recognized, metal packaging materials stand out for their strength, safe handling, storage and transportation, sophisticated opening and closure systems, quality wel- ding, and stackability, all not to mention that they are totally sustainable. Themarket for metal containers continues on the rise, as efforts to improve these products both technologically and visually keep making great progress. Of all most sig- nificant steps forward taken by manufacturers of metal containers for paints and coatings, the highlights are significant improvements in handling, transportation, stacking and storage resistance. “Also among our de-