INPRA LATINA visited some of the most important fairs of paints and coatings in the continent, to learn about the behavior of the industry in terms of production techniques and product development.
by Duván Chaverra Agudelo
We come from a pleasant season of fairs in which INPRA LATINA was present and was a media partner of each of the shows in which it participated in a different way.
The publication was present, in chronological order, at the American Coatings Show that was held from April 8 to 10 in Atlanta (USA), at Andina Paint, held from May 7 to 8 in Lima (Peru), and at Report, which took place from May 18 to 30 in Buenos Aires (Argentina).
For each of the fairs, according to the needs and public of the country, the companies prepared their most recent advances to present them as latest developments.
That is why visiting these fairs is so rewarding for the sector, since it exposes a line by which the contemporary market will be guided, according to the products that are presented. However, there are not many novelties that are observed. The trend continues to lean towards the use of products with low VOC content, so-called "green" and smart coatings.
American Coatings Show
One of the trends that was talked about a lot during the fair has to do with analyzing what the future of coatings holds. A survey of visitors to the fair revealed that water-based technology is seen as the most important future technology in the coatings industry. More than 40% of respondents voted in favor of this, while 30% of respondents consider functional/smart coatings to be the most important.
Highlights
For example, Lanxess brought to the American Coatings Show its material protection products, as well as its organic and inorganic pigments that meet the highest quality requirements.
The company's focus was to present premium products for the coloring and preservation of coatings, inks and mortars. "Our extensive portfolio and high-performance products actively reflect the megatrend of urbanization. U.S. ink and coating manufacturers — which represent a very important customer segment — can count on our products as well when it comes to sustainability," said Dr. Hans-Peter Baldus, who is responsible for Lanxess Inorganic Pigments ( IPG)'s pigments business unit in the United States.
At the ACS, the inorganic pigments business unit presented ecologically friendly iron and chromium oxides for inks and coatings under the already established Bayferrox and Colortherm brands. While the Material Protection Products (MPP) business unit unveiled high-performance fungicides and algaecides that provide long-lasting antimicrobial protection for construction inks, varnishes and other coatings. And in the Functional Chemicals (FCC) business unit, it revealed high-performance organic and inorganic pigment preparations: which are Levanyl and Levanox products.
Another technology that caught our attention at the American Coatings Show was the coating modifier presented by Momentive Performance Materials Inc, which can improve coating flexibility while maintaining or even increasing corrosion resistance and gloss retention, helping to mitigate the brittleness issues that often plague today's silane-cured hybrid coating technologies.
As an added benefit, its improved flexibility can produce a stronger, more protective coating, and its increased resistance to UV degradation allows the coating to look new longer. This technology can also help improve formulation latitude. Inherently low in viscosity, the coating modifier is easy to mix into coating formulations; it can be incorporated into the grinding paste or as a post-addition to the coating formulation with comparable efficacy.
Similarly, the green trend was quite widespread in the American show, for example, Troy Corporation presented its advanced "Polyphasic" and dry/film "Troysan", as well as the wet state preservatives "Mergal". During the exhibition they also showed "green" performance additives, a full range of metal carboxylates, as well as their advanced technical service training program, TMMA.
Hoffman Mineral also continues with the presentation of one of its recognized products, Neuburg siliceous earth: it is a conglomerate of crepuscular and cryptocrystalline silica and kaolin, which, as a charge, offers advantages such as excellent resistance to saline atmospheres, together with positive rheological properties and outstanding resistance to acids and abrasion.
On the equipment side, we were struck by the presentations of Defelsko, renowned for its inspection equipment technologies. There he presented his new generation PosiTector, a powder-cured thickness meter that uses ultrasound technology, which will automatically calculate and display the expected curing thickness.
The PosiTector PC Powder Checker helps control dust consumption to reduce costs and reduce waste. The technology allows the measurement of small diameter tubes, different shapes, as well as moving parts. This equipment is characterized by having an internal memory that stores up to 1,000 readings without the need to download software. The meter continuously displays updates and statistics and immediately generates reports with measurements and summaries.
Peru hosted the Andina Paint 2014
The most important fair of the paints and coatings sector for the Andean region was held as its main headquarters in Peru. There, many of the companies related to the formulation were the protagonists. Additionally, the event had a complete program of technical conferences organized by Star (Association of Andean Technicians in Coatings).
In the sample, many of the companies were pleased to visit a country with enormous growth potential. This was highlighted by Inés González, marketing manager of the company Solvay Peru.
"In this event, topics such as the competitiveness of the Augeo family of products against petrochemical derivatives were deepened, standing out for its high performance in all segments of the coatings industry. Other solvents, dispersants, emulsions, amines, polyurethanes and thickeners, among others, were also presented. The Rhodoline line of surfactants was also promoted with its technology for efficient foam control, wetting and pigment dispersion, highlighting its benefits for water-based coating systems, offering solutions with better performance, VOC-free and APE-free."
Meanwhile, Rafael Fernández and Jorge Yuasa, from Andes Chemical, considered it important to participate in the fair because "the Peruvian market is in clear growth and many investments are being made at the institutional level, works and in the private sector".
Regarding the novelties, they commented that "we presented at the fair, with our strategic partner Coatex, jointly an innovation called Vamper Technology, this technology patented by Coatex now allows us to use its technology through its products to find savings in the use of titanium in formulations, either in high and low PVC paints; here the innovation is found in the high PVC ones, which together with the use of an opaque polymer we are achieving savings in titanium use of around 10 to 18% on average, depending on each formulation".
In terms of trends, the professionals explained that "we observed that in solvent-based coating products, there is a marked interest in replacing them with water; this is something that is beginning to happen but has a medium-term future. Water-based concern is being raised for low-VOC products to produce low-odor paints that are environmentally friendly. Also the trend is to produce solvent-based hybrid products diluted in water. Another reason that is forcing companies to change is due to regulations for products that can also be used for the manufacture of drugs."
The ExpoCongreso Report 2014
The event, in its seventh version, held in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was attended by 1,300 people who participated in some way in the meeting. There were 32 exhibiting companies, which presented their most recent novelties for the Southern Cone region.
Additionally, Report, organized by the Ibero-American Technological Association of Paints, Adhesives and Inks, had the contribution of 31 speakers for the Congress and Pre-Congress who offered 37 hours of high-level presentations. In addition to the 30 speakers of the Commercial Technical Program of the afternoon that added 15 hours of dissertation of great interest.
It is worth mentioning that our columnist Julián Restrepo, and PMC technical manager of PPG Industries Colombia, participated in the congress presenting an interesting talk called "A practical approach to the concept of PVC and CPVC, and other formulation parameters".
To highlight, within the event there was a dissertation space to analyze the current situation in Argentina, which has presented several changes in recent times.
In this regard, Professor Nicolás Ladisernia, Director of Research and Development of Sherwin Williams and coordinator of the Scientific Committee of Atipat, who also participated as a speaker, commented on the matter that "the economic context in the country and the region condition the development of our industries and challenge the way in which we provide ourselves with materials and resources. On the other hand, they also influence the way in which we offer innovative solutions and proposals. New technical regulations and demands from consumers, associations and public and private institutions have an impact on our activities; what is our role as professionals and entrepreneurs, what new opportunities new technologies can offer us. What is Atipat's contribution to this process."
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