After the 'price hike'! Nippon, Dulux and other paints are 'out of stock'!

Recently, Bosch (China) Investment Co., Ltd. issued a force majeure statement stating that suppliers have halted production on a large scale. DuPont, Solvay, LyondellBasell, Celanese, BASF, etc. have notified Bosch that PA66, PA612, PBT, PET, PPA, ABS, The delivery of materials such as POM and PP is affected.

According to the Coatings Purchasing Network, not only Bosch, but many downstream customers have recently reported that the supply of raw materials is tight, as is the supply of coatings. Architectural coating companies such as Nippon and Dulux are out of stock of white coatings, and this situation has been going on for some time. Paint, automotive paint and other industries have also encountered a "supply crisis" and are on the verge of out of stock. What is going on?

Jiantu white pigment is out of stock, and TITANIUM dioxide is the "culprit"!

In response to the outage of white coatings in many construction coating industries such as Nippon and Dulux, industry insiders said that in the construction coating industry, the use of white coatings is very large and the demand is also high. At present, this situation is mainly due to two factors. Cause.

First, the upstream of white coatings includes raw materials such as Titanium Dioxide, fillers, etc. The market for these products is on an upward trend recently. In terms of fillers, more than a dozen barium sulfate companies announced an increase of 200 yuan/ton, catching the "train" of price increases in the chemical industry chain. Titanium dioxide is "more limelight." Since March, the titanium dioxide industry has continued the price increase trend in the second half of last year. The first quarter has not yet passed. China Nuclear Titanium Dioxide, Detian Chemical, Jiangsu Zhentai, Anada, Ningbo Xinfu, Oriental Titanium, etc. Titanium dioxide companies have already raised three rounds. The domestic price has increased up to 2,600 yuan/ton, and the international price has increased up to 430 yuan/ton (approximately RMB 2,798/ton). The current price of Lomon Bailey is 20,000 yuan. Yuan/ton, Jinhai Titanium Industry and other companies continue to seal orders, and other companies have begun to give priority to supplying old customers, focusing on order production, and adopting proportional purchase restrictions based on customers’ purchases last year, which undoubtedly promotes the shortage of white paint.

Another reason is related to the status quo of my country's chemical industry. Hong Jie, a representative of the National People’s Congress and chairman and president of Sankeshu Coatings, mentioned, “Currently, my country’s coatings industry has the largest production capacity and market share in the world, but many high-end, high-tech coatings and upstream raw materials still rely on imports and foreign-funded companies. Such as high-end industrial equipment coatings, high-performance special resins, additives, etc..." That is to say, the upstream products of coating raw materials, some raw materials close to the source of petroleum still rely on foreign imports. Chemical plants in Texas and other places in the United States have not resumed production, and the huge changes in geopolitics and epidemics have also affected the chemical industry. Some overseas countries and regions are facing lockdowns and vigilance, which have blocked the export of some chemical products. my country’s chemical industry is also facing restrictions on the purchase of some high-end raw materials. Due to upstream transmission, some high-end brand paints are also out of stock and out of stock.

The paint is facing out of stock, which is actually the fault of the curing agent...

In addition to the construction and coating industry, the paint industry also faces the risk of out-of-stock. The main reason is that there is a large gap in curing agent products. Prior to the accident in the Covestro device, the curing agent and other products encountered force majeure, and the supply was limited. After that, overhaul and inspection are carried out to check and repair at all levels. Foreign epidemics have repeated, and the current device is still suspended, and it is expected to resume after August. At present, Covestro's 3390 and other curing agents are still out of stock, and this situation has been going on for a long time.

In addition, the supply of Curing Agent suppliers such as Wanhua and Asahi Kasei is also relatively tight, which has a greater relationship with the shortage of raw materials in their upstream. Many paint companies currently have no curing agent in stock, and even if they have inventory, they are not enough to support a few months of production. At present, panic is spreading, and paint factories are looking for curing agent resources. As a result, products in the curing agent industry are quickly sold out. The tide has also risen. From around 33-34 yuan/kg in the fourth quarter of last year, it has been speculated to around 100 yuan/kg, an increase of nearly 200%.

Automotive paint suffered a supply crisis, and the supply of raw materials was reduced to 25%

The scarcity of curing agents also affects the automotive paint industry. The person in charge of a well-known automotive paint company said that everyone is now rushing to buy curing agents and looking for resources everywhere, because there is indeed a big gap. Under the downsizing market, you will definitely not be able to get it if you start late. It's not so obvious now, but after a month, it will be clear who is in stock and who is out of stock.

In addition, raw materials such as solvents and resins are also rising in price for automotive refinishing paints. The raw material butyl acrylate rose by RMB 8,200/ton during the year, an increase of more than 70%. The upstream of solvent products has also seen a significant increase. Resin companies rushed to send letters to announce the increase, a single increase of more than 2,000 yuan/ton, and some companies have already closed the market and stopped selling. It can be said that the raw material side is facing a supply crisis.

At present, the curing agent companies are screening and selling customers. The supply of old and long-term customers who have cooperated for many years does not exceed 25% of the previous year's order volume. Other new customers have no way to place orders and cannot get the goods if they have money. In order to be able to continue production, these companies either took a small amount of goods from other peers at high prices, or used other formula blends to produce products with a small amount of proportioning, and they had a rather "troubled". Under this circumstance, well-known companies such as Nippon and 3M announced price increases, and a single product was discussed.

According to industry insiders, this situation can be said to be unprecedented in the coating industry. The price increase has never lasted for a long time, and the occurrence of stock outs is not frequent. It seems that the situation of stocks being out of stock while increasing prices seems to be approaching. It has never appeared in 20 years. The upstream prices have risen wildly, and the cost of coatings has soared. Some coating companies have fallen into a "strange circle" of "selling one and losing one". If you don't increase your money, you will lose money, but if you increase too much and worry about losing customers, you can only decide the increase based on the order quantity. Industry insiders said that the entire industry is basically a single discussion. In the future, with the scarcity and out-of-stock of upstream products, the output of the coating industry will also be affected. In addition, the pressure on the cost side needs to be shifted urgently. If coating companies want to survive, Rising prices have become an inevitable choice, and the entire chemical industry will also usher in subversive development.