934,000 tonnes of printing inkswere sold in Europe in 2002.

Press release from: CEPE, BE-1160 Brussels.Tel: +32 2 676 7480. Fax: +32 2 676 7490.Website: http://www.cepe.org/ (6 Nov 2003)

Survey of German paints andcoatings manufacturers: scepticaloutlook for 2004

There are signs of a slight upturnin the German paints andcoatings industry for 2004 butmany manufacturers remainsceptical. The article prints asurvey for different segments.Figure 1 shows a barometerindicating the mood in theGerman paints and coatingsindustry. Domestic sales remainunsatisfactory whereas exportsare predicted to improve. Figure 2shows production figures for theGerman coatings industry in 1H2003 (emulsion paints, plasterand aqueous paints 708,000tonnes, -5%; solvent-based paintsand coatings 266,620 tonnes, -1.4%; and powder coatings32,377 tonnes, +4.6%). Figure 3shows that German production ofprinting inks increased by 3.4% to231,657 tonnes in 1H 2003.Figure 4 shows fluctuations inraw material prices (titaniumdioxide, alkyd resins and ethyleneacetate) during 1997-2003.

Farbe und Lack, Jan 2004, 110 (1), 18-20(in German)

Trends in the US Coatings Industry

“On the Road to recovery” is thetitle of a 2004 finishing marketstudy, which is the latest annualsurvey of the US finishingindustry. The 17th annual surveycarried out by Industrial Paint &Powder is based on the repliessent by 618 respondents, and59% say that their operatinglevels in 2004 would be higherthan in 2003. This is an increaseon the 53% responding in 2003and the 43% responding in 2002.Only 4% predicted a decrease inoperating levels during 2004.

There is an increase in thenumbers claiming that orders areimproving. While budget spendingon liquid application equipment isabout the same as last year.Companies claim that they willspend about 23% of their budgetson powder spraying equipment,and this is up by about 8% overthe last two years. In recentyears, a reduction in operatingcosts was the principal motive fornew investment in finishingequipment. This year, upgradingor replacing aging equipment isthe prime motive cited by 54% ofrespondents, followed by 48% stillseeking reduction in operatingcosts. Other reasons forpurchasing new equipmentinclude: increase capacity 39%;improving coatingsappearance/performance 39%which is consistent with last fewyears; environmental compliance,26%, a percentage that hascontinued to decline in the lastfew years; expand/improve colourchange facilities, 12%, about thesame; conversion to new coatingsystem, 12%, about the same.When asked which costs wouldbe reduced to justify investmentin new finishing equipment, “scrapand re-work” was cited by 58% ofrespondents. “Direct labour” wascited by 50%. Other justificationsinclude “indirect labour” employedin set-up, maintenance, materialhandling, 42%; “material costs”,37%; “in-process inventory”, 13%;and “warranty and field service”,13%.

Capacity-utilization rates in2003 changed little from 2002

rates. The capacity-utilization ratecategories were: less than 50%, 25% respondents; 50 to 59% capacity, 13%; 60 to 69% capacity, 14%; 70 to 79% capacity, 17%; 80 to 89% capacity, 15%; 90% capacity or more, 16%.Percentage of companies sendingat least some of their parts out tocustom coaters to be painted orpowder coated is 33%, about thesame as last year, but down fromthe 45% of several years ago.The vast majority of finishers saythat less than 10% of theircoating requirements are handledby custom coaters.

For the most part, thepercentage of each type ofcoating used by finishers has notchanged much in the last fewyears. The exception has beenpowder coatings. Respondentssay that powder coatings accountfor 43% of total usage, up from35% of total usage two yearsago. Finishers expect powdercoatings to account for about48% of total usage two yearsfrom now. The high cost ofconversion was cited by morethan 50% of respondents as theprimary obstacle preventing themfrom switching to powder coatingsand E-coat, while 64% citedradiation cure for the samereason. About 55% cite poorperformance as the main obstacleholding back the use ofwaterborne coatings, although thepercentage has been falling inrecent years.

Industrial Paint & Powder, Jan 2004, 80 (1),6-8,10

6 FEBRUARY 2004

F O C U S O N P O W D E R C O A T I N G S

Finishing Spending Plans for 2004

% %Type of Equipment Total Spending Planning to Buy

Powder spraying 23.2 43.9Liquid (air or airless spraying) 17.8 33.6Liquid spraying HVLP 9.5 22.4Liquid spraying electrostatic 3.4 9.4E-coat 1.9 5.0Fluidized bed, powder 1.5 4.8UV-cure 1.1 4.1Rotary discs or bells 0.7 2.1Other 2.2 4.4