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Thursday 17 May 2018

Painting new possibilities




In an interview, Antonio Carlos de Oliveira, Executive President of Associacao Brasileira dos Fabricantes de Tintas (ABRAFATI) – the Brazilian coatings manufacturers association; with Chemical Today magazine talks in depth about the huge potential that the country holds for the paints & coatings industry and the barriers that the industry has to rise above.
By Shivani Mody
Opportunities in Brazil coatings industry.
Brazil’s coatings industry is one of the largest in the world, with an annual output in excess of 1.5 billion litres. Both multinational and Brazilian-owned producers operate in the country, making decorative paints, automotive OEM and refinish coatings, as well as coatings for the most varied of industries.
The country went through a severe crisis between 2014 and 2016, but after a three-year period of negative results, the coatings industry resumed growth in 2017, albeit at the modest rate of 1.9 percent. We are expecting 2018 to be better than the previous year, despite being marked by instability and a certain degree of unpredictability. We expect sales to grow at an estimated rate of 3 percent or slightly higher. While that would be a better performance than last year’s, whether it materializes, in our view, will depend on how Brazil’s political and economic situation evolves going forward. Mid and long-term prospects are quite favourable, as Brazil is a vast market where there are countless opportunities in various segments. In addition to its pent-up demand stemming from the period during which sales were far below average, the country needs to make massive investments in infrastructure and housing projects over the next several years in order to meet its growth requirements and improve its people’s living conditions.
Those projects require coatings, thereby boosting our industry. Statistically, there are more than 60 million households in Brazil that need to be either repainted periodically or, in many cases, get their first coat of paint ever because they have bare brick or plaster walls.
One needs to keep in mind that Brazil’s per capita consumption of paints and coatings is still low compared to more developed markets—around 7.5 litres per capita per annum. This means there can be much more paint and coatings sold in the country.
R&D and innovation in Brazil’s coatings industry. 
Currently, coatings designed for all applications are manufactured in Brazil, with cutting-edge technology, and a degree of technical expertise comparable to the world’s most advanced production centres. That is the result of investments made directly by manufacturers, as well as the work they do in cooperation with suppliers of raw materials, which are always in search of new solutions for customer requirements. There are new products launched by the industry on an ongoing basis, driven by technological advancement and new demands from society.

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