How do the giants like BASF and Klein evaluate the global pigment Market in 2018

Coatings World recently interviewed raw material companies such as Basf, Klein and DCC LANSCO to analyze and predict the market situation of pigments in 2018.
Coatings World: What is the performance of the pigment Market in 2018?

BASF: Globally, there are many uncertainties in the current pigment market: the impact of the potential increase in trade barriers between the United States and China (and potentially other*) is hard to estimate and deserves attention. In addition, China's declining private consumption and environmental politics, which may have an impact on raw material supply and costs, have increased uncertainty. Moreover, the "diesel scandal" in Europe clearly imposes a burden on European automobile production and demand for automotive paint, as well as Britain's withdrawal from Europe, all of which will lead to uncertainties, which will make it difficult to start in 2019. Because of this background, all regions are not optimistic about the growth expectations of automotive paint, which led to a downturn at least in the 2019 * quarter.

CLAIN: In 2018, the organic pigments market continued to develop according to the subdivision of the paint market and the relationship with the growth rate of regional GDP. Over the past few years, color trends have had a negative impact on the use of organic pigments. However, in many paint areas, we have seen a change in color to a more colorful direction. We see that blue, green and violet are highly promoted and widely recognized by consumers. In addition, with the increasing demand for transparent organic pigments, there is a trend of metal tone in various applications.

DCC LANSCO: In the first half of 2018, the pigment market began to slow down. Due to stricter environmental enforcement, especially in China, the cost of raw materials has increased, resulting in factory closure and integration. In the second half of the year, the price volatility of raw materials gradually declined, creating more stability for pigment manufacturers.

Heubach: The market for pigments is diverse in 2018. Although the market of coatings and plastic masterbatch industry is growing, some decorative coatings market is weakening again. Several parts of the pigments Market are affected by shortages and soaring costs of major raw materials, mainly due to China's environmental problems, which are still being solved. Most of these growth fails to absorb and affect our customer base. Heubach is a backward integrated integrated company that produces crude oil for automotive grade pigments to ensure availability and consistent quality. Heubach also invested in establishing a second production base for anticorrosive pigments to provide our customers with more pigments and ensure future availability.

Sun Chemical: 2018 will be remembered for many reasons, and China's impact on global manufacturing may be one of them. The merger of basic chemical manufacturing industries in China makes some coatings industries vulnerable to rapid political and environmental changes. Trade wars and tariffs may or may not be * sexual, and of course important, but the rapid action taken by the Chinese authorities to achieve environmental improvement has affected many aspects of the paint industry.

Although generally positive, environmental inspections and the closure of factories throughout the city have resulted in tight and uncertain supply of key raw materials. Manufacturers may or may not return to production when they determine their ability to meet new requirements.

Moving forward, managing supply chains, strengthening partnerships and developing agility are critical to meeting customer requirements and ensuring uninterrupted supply of products. Our supply chain team has more than 20 paint manufacturing plants in the world, including Asia, Europe and South America. It is a North American pigment manufacturer. Our supply chain team has established emergency measures and purchased from a wide range of global supply bases.

Coatings World: Geographically, which regions offer * growth opportunities?

BASF: For decorative coatings, architectural coatings and industrial coatings, we expect that growth will lead to regional differences: Asia, especially China, is the region where we expect to provide good growth opportunities for our business. We are fully prepared to meet stricter regulations, such as lead chromate replacement and VOC limits.

Klein: In terms of decorative coatings, we expect growth in emerging areas such as China and India to exceed the average. Among these emerging markets, the current population-related consumption of paint is lower than that of traditional markets in Europe and North America, suggesting growth potential. In addition, the replacement of lead chromate has a positive effect on the volume growth of organic pigments in these areas. In Europe and North America, we see that the value of the pigment market is the same.

DCC LANSCO: Just as we see significant growth in the middle class in China, India and parts of Africa, we see more and more opportunities in our industry. With the increase of disposable income, consumers tend to buy products containing pigments, dispersions and preparations.

Heubach: Opportunities based on market growth still exist in some Asian and Latin American markets, because these economies are still growing faster than traditional markets. However, considering the extensive production of inorganic, organic pigments and dispersions produced by Heubach, there is an opportunity for growth in all areas of the paint industry, especially in the application of industrial coatings.

Although we see growth potential and wide application in typical regions such as Latin America and Asia-Pacific, it is high.