6 APRIL 2008

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

delivering innovations based oncustomer and industry needs.These efforts currently focus onfour “innovation themes”,specifically: reducing environmentalimpact; improving environmentaldurability (eg UV stability,corrosion resistance, dirt pick-upresistance), reducing applicationand life cycle costs; and enabling“smart” coating functionality

Press release from: Dow Chemical Company,Midland, MI, USA. Tel: +1 864 525 9307 (11Mar 2008)

Nippon to add Rup 4.5 bn in Indiaoperations

Japan-based paints major NipponPaints, which has invested Rup800 M so far for its greenfieldmanufacturing facility atSriperumbudur near Chennai,plans to invest an additional Rup4.5 bn in its India operations by2011. The plant, which has acapacity to manufacture 20,000klt/y of decorative paints, isexpected to become operationalfrom Oct 2008. The plant has aprovision for expansion byanother 10,000 klt. The companyproposes to invest yet anotherRup 3.5 bn to set up a new plantin Gurgaon once volumes pick upin India. Nippon Paint India, theIndian arm of Nippon Paints, is asmall player in the Rup 25 bndecorative paints market in India.Nippon Paint India imports paintsfrom its facilities in neighbouringcountries and markets themthrough 90 exclusive brandoutlets and over 60 multi-brandoutlets in South India. Thecompany plans to double thenumber of its retail outlets soon.The company has a smallmanufacturing facility for industrialpaints in Pune. This accounts forabout Rup 50 M of the company’stotal turnover of Rup 250 M.

Business Line, 6 Mar 2008, 15 (65), 2

Jotun sees paint sales improvingby 12%

Jotun Thailand is expecting itspaint sales to rise by 12% in

2008. The paint sector ispredicted to increase by 7-8%during the year. Jotun’s profitsare not forecast to expand in linewith its sales due to higher rawmaterial costs. Paint industryproduction costs were up by 3-6% in 2007. Jotun Thailand hadsales of Baht 2.7 bn in 2007(+7% on 2006). The firm saysthat it has a 20% share of thetotal Thai decorative paint market,which is worth Baht 12 bn(premium paints Baht 3 bn). Itaims to increase its share to 22%in 2008. Around half of Jotun’srevenue came from decorativepaints in 2007 with the rest fromprotective and marine paints.Jotun has a paint productioncapacity of 50 M litres/y at itsplant in Amata Nakorn IndustrialPark.

Bangkok Post, 3 Mar 2008, (Website:http://www.Bangkokpost.net)

NEWPRODUCTS

An effective additive meteringdevice

An additive metering device thataddresses the problemsassociated with additive metering,dispersion and mixing in thepowder coating manufacturingprocess, has been developed byGermany’s Hosokawa Micron.Mikro Inject is a dosing systemthat cuts the additive need inproduction processes that rely onadmixtures, particularly thoseemployed in the powder coatingsector. The flow properties ofpowder coatings are improvedusing additives. According to theCompany, the problems thatcommonly plague additivemetering, dispersion and mixingare a thing of the past with theproduct.

PPCJ, Polymer, Paint, Colour Journal, Jan2008, 198 (4520) 44

MARKETSCountry focus: Iran: growing paints

Iran is described as a minorplayer in the global paints market,but there is a broad agreementthat its paint sector has grownsignificantly over the years.According to research analystsGobi International, the countryholds just 0.5% of the global paintand varnish market in 2007, butthe domestic paint and varnish hasexpanded by 14% since 2005. In2005, the market was valued at$1.1 bn and was projected to topmore than $1.3 bn by the end of2007. It is expected to increase byanother six percentage points in2008, and reach a market sizeworth $1.5 bn by 2010. By 2012,the market value of Iran’s paintand varnish sector is forecast toreach $1.6 bn, up 4.4% from 2005.Despite the positive projections,Iranian manufacturers have amixed outlook about the sector.The downturn in the domesticconstruction market resulted in noreal growth in paint production in2007. Nonetheless, the value ofIran’s decorative, industrial andmarine market remains at $1 bn,with decorative paints accountingfor $500 M and industrial andmarine paints also making up $500M. Powder paints grew roughly30%, while liquid paints declinedby 5%. Liquid paints represent80% of the decorative paintsector, whereas paint powdermakes up 5%. The automotivesector remains unchanged from2006, although there were somedeclines in the last few months.The anticipated growth in themarine sector did not happenbecause marine projects havebeen hit by economic crisis andline delays.

PPCJ, Polymers, Paint, Colour Journal, Jan2008, 198 (4520), 32,34,36

Current green coatings do little toprotect the environment

The USA paint industry seeminglyhas not done enough to protect