International. A $10 billion demand in Latin America for paints and coatings is forecast this year by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as economies in some of the largest countries (including Brazil and Colombia) are slow, while others such as Mexico, Peru and the Caribbean are accelerating modestly.
The IMF estimates that the market will have a regional expansion of 0.9% this year, while the forecast for 2016 is 2.0%.
The IMF suggests that the strongest growth – at 0.2% or more – is occurring this year in Mexico, Peru, Chile, Honduras, Costa Rica and the Caribbean. Mexico is forecast as the most promising market for paints and coatings in the region, as a result of both its growth rate and size. With a growth rate of 3.1% this year, and a forecast of 3.3% in 2016.
The analysis also highlights that the countries with stable growth are Guatemala, Nicaragua and Guyana, which together represent only about US$70 million of total GDP value. Distribution in these countries is often managed through Panama, which is the de facto storage hub of both the Caribbean and Central America.
Similarly, countries with moderate slowdowns were defined, including Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Suriname. Argentina is the most important of these markets, with an economy of US $ 636,000 million.
However, much of the Latin American region's GDP is in the category of marked slowdown: Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, the IMF suggests.
Within the top three segments of the paints and coatings market in Latin America, the automotive segment is growing more evenly, because it is a mature industry globally, as opposed to general industrial development in specific countries, or the consumer-driven architecture segment, heavily affected by GDP and liquidity.
