Guatemala. With an investment of close to US$17 million in production plants, in 2012 this country expects to produce 35 million gallons of paint, coatings and solvents, of which eight million will be destined for domestic consumption and the rest for export.
This is thanks to the fact that next year two new factories will come into operation, the first of them of the Solid Group which will have an installed capacity of 26 million gallons of paint and six million pounds of resins per year. The second, belonging to Celco de Guatemala, S.A. whose capacity will amount to four million gallons.
According to the president of the Guild of Manufacturers of Paints and Coatings (Grefap), Javier Castillo, "with the increase in the installed capacity of the new plants we expect production to increase significantly. We intend to expand into the market of Mexico, USA. "The U.S. has been part of the Caribbean and the Andean Community as we have been doing for several years in Central America."
Additionally, "in the country there are other factories that together have a production capacity of five million gallons a year," Castillo added.
But the paint market in Guatemala could have new additions. Recently, Ernesto Fajardo, president of the Colombian paint firm, Pintuco, revealed that negotiations are currently underway for the construction of a production plant in this country.
