Revista Paint & Pintura - Edição 246

CLIPPING PAINT&PINTURA | Agosto 2019 | 5 Growth projections for the Brazilian economy are once again showing signs of a slight improvement, spreading higher hopes around the country. Economists contacted by the Central Bank for its Focus Report said their expectations are rising again. According to them, Brazil’s GDP (gross domestic product) gro- wth is nowexpected to hit 0.82 percent. Experts say this is due to a series of economically favorable newdevelopments, such as the release of money from the federal unemployment fund and the passing of the first round of social security reforms by the lower chamber of Congress. Other factors that are still subject to debate may further con- tribute to raising that growth rate, such as the tax reform. The truth is, even though nothing can be accomplished overnight, something needs to be done so that Brazil can go back to being viewed favorably and regain some credibility. With that inmind, investments are beginning to bemade in order to pro- vide the country with the fuel its needs to grow and advance. Despite the challenging scenario, the featured articles in this issue—on organic pigments, biocides, and hydrocarbon sol- vents—show that suppliers of these rawmaterials are hopeful and have taken action over the past few years to mitigate the impact of the Brazilian crisis. They have continued to invest in innovation, unique technologies and services, as well as into fully meeting the needs of the paint and coatings industry. According to those suppliers, their optimism has risen since the coming of the second half of 2019 exactly because of the possibility that the social security reformmay pass, helping to reduce both the national debt and possibly the key interest rate. These are themain factors expected to lead to an increase in consumer spending and to resumption of growth in several sectors of the economy, such as building and construction and, as a result, paints and coatings. All of the new developments arising in connection with those three raw materials that are so important to the coatings industry are reported on the coming pages. For this month’s interview, Paint & Pintura Magazine has talked to Fabiana Marra, head of Oxiteno’s global Coatings business, who discussed the company’s recent investments, as well as their plans for the future, new developments and technologies, which reflect their commitment to sustainability. In addition, Fabiana said Oxiteno is going to keep investments in its Brazilian operation up at the same level, bolstering the claim that this is a very important region for the company. Also published by Agnelo Editora in this issue is the schedule of lectures for the 43 rd Paint & Pintura Coatings Technology and Management Forum, which is taking place on August 8 at Hotel Intercity, in Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul. The forum is yet again ushering in the latest of innovations in products and services for the industry, while featuring management-related lectures and a prominent panel of CEOs from domestic and multinational companies brought together to discuss pathways for the industry, the challenges facing it on the management front, and new lines of business for the next decade. Lucélia Monfardini SECOND HALF BRINGS OPTIMISM TO BRAZIL HYDROCARBON SOLVENTS - ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLIER DEVELOPMENTS Very effective in the coatings industry, hydrocarbon solvents still play a very important role in the formulation and, therefo- re, the new solutions are increasingly better in terms of quality and reduction of raw materials harmful to the environment. With great participation still in the paints sector, hydrocarbon solvents have their characteristics that play a key role in the formulation of products and, therefore, their producers have been developing new solutions that advance in meeting the environmental and sustainability issues, with great quality and ensuring safety in their use. Currently, the Brazilian hydrocarbon solventmarket consumes about 460,000 tons of the product per year, being used in paints and coatings for the automotive, industrial and deco- rative segments, and in wood and metal coatings, informs Fernanda Silveira Ribaski de Borba, coordinator of Paints and Varnishes of Braskem. “After 2014, the housing, infrastructure and automobile sectors suffered from the decline of the eco- nomy and the reduction in investments. For the next fewyears, with the recovery of the Brazilian economy, the expectation is that the market of hydrocarbon solvents is growing again in Brazil. One of the signals is the high in the production of vehicles, which closed 2018 with growth of 5.2 percent and, more recently, closed the accumulated of the year until the month of June, up 2.8 percent compared to the same period of 2018, according to Anfavea.” Braskem’s solvent business is focused on the paint market, representing around 60 percent of its commercialization, discloses Fernanda. “In the paint segment, we operatemainly in the industrial and automotive sectors. The remaining 40 percent are destined to themarket of adhesives, chemicals and agrochemicals. This relevance is confirmed in the commercial and technical team, where we have a team dedicated to the care of the paints sector. In recent years, we have had growth in the solvent market, alignedwith Braskem’s investment stra- tegy in the sector and for 2019we have the same expectation.” Hydrocarbon solvents are divided into aromatic hydrocarbons