International. With a general increase in sales, several of the main paint manufacturers, as well as suppliers of raw materials, closed the third quarter of 2011, according to corporate reports released during the second week of October.
The supplier of raw materials DuPont recorded a 32% increase in net sales that reached US $ 9,240 million. Thus, the company's net profit increased by 23%, equivalent to US$452 million.
Part of that increase is due to the 15% increase in the prices of its product portfolio, as well as the growth in the demand for pigments, especially titanium dioxide whose prices continue to skyrocket.
Paint maker Sherwin Williams closed the third quarter with a 10% growth in sales of the architectural line, which helped minimize the impact of continued increases in the cost of raw materials.
The corporate report indicates that the firm recorded an increase in net profit by 2.6%, to US$179.9 million and that its revenue increased by 14%, to $2.48 billion.
The segment of technologies for finishes was one of those that presented better results, with an increase of 31% thanks to the readjustments in the price, the increase in the volume of sales and the exchange rate variation in some of the main markets.
The situation varied in Akzo Nobel, where the drop in profits reached 37%, implying that the company's profit only reached up to US$205 million. The company's CEO, Hans Wijers, acknowledged that adverse economic conditions and the continued rise in the price of raw materials had an impact on the financial results.
According to the executive, the company plans to execute a restructuring that will save 500 million euros each year and whose execution will take at least three years and an investment of 425 million euros.
