Industrial Coatings
2022 summary
It was a year of two halves. The first half-year was characterized by strong trading conditions in most of our markets and regions. In Packaging Coatings, demand for aluminum beverage cans globally was very strong across all regions, while Coil Coatings continued to benefit from pent-up post-COVID-19 demand. Our European business, however, was impacted by the war in Ukraine.
The second half-year was challenging in all segments as the combined effects of high energy costs and inflation impacted all our end markets in Europe. Customers reduced output significantly to manage energy, which affected demand. The COVID-19 resurgence in Asia also impacted our business, notably in China.
We managed our external challenges, while focusing on the future, delivering strong pricing in all segments and maintaining high customer confidence.
Daniela VladDirector of Industrial Coatings (until February 1, 2023)
Despite these strong headwinds, we continued to service and innovate for our customers across all segments. We responded in particular to the strongly developing requirement for sustainable solutions, such as energy-efficient coatings, which will be a key feature in 2023 and years to come.
2022 highlight
We introduced our CERAM-A-STAR 1050 Select standard color palette for coil coatings. It’s formulated using our market reference SMP technology to provide improved productivity and more efficient use of working capital for our coil coater customers. Our other service partners benefit from the reduction in color complexity, shorter lead times and lower risk of slow-moving inventory. The use of our leading SMP technology also translates into greater confidence in the security of supply. This is important for our customers in the evolving landscape of coil and extruded metal manufacturing, who have faced supply challenges in the PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) supply chain. Our new portfolio is based on greener chemistry alternatives than PVDF, so customers now have more sustainable options to achieve a comparable finish and performance in most applications.
Other key developments
- Renewed our POLYDURE range of polyester paint systems to offer more product customization, more support and more performance to our customers
- Launched Acquaduro, a 2k water-based polyurethane system of wood finishes which will enable our Chemcraft distributors in North America to offer an alternative to solvent-borne technologies
- Introduced PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) product alternatives including CERAM-A-STAR Plus and SILKSTAR 5000
Making a mark
Several landmark buildings and sports venues were coated with our products, including the Aqua Tower in Miami, Orlando International Airport, and the National Ski Jumping Center and National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, China.
Anniversary for Zweihorn brand
Our Zweihorn premium wood finishes brand celebrated its 110th anniversary. Established in 1912, the portfolio includes paints, stains, varnishes, oils and waxes, and special products for carpenters and joiners.
Wood coatings embrace more renewables
UV and water-based products containing at least 5% bio-based raw materials – in line with market demand – were launched and approved by key customers in the wood finishes market. It will help them – and their third party suppliers – to become more sustainable and marks the first step towards wider use of renewables within wood coatings.
Shaping change together
Rolled out our #ShapingChangeTogether campaign. It highlights the fact that the move away from bisphenol A-based coatings – as well as all bisphenols used for metal food and beverage packaging – requires the entire value chain to take action.
Revenue by destination
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Revenue
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Key brands
Includes Mexico.