3M claims DuPont is violating patent
Manufacturer seeks payment for use of process to apply nonstick coating free of harmful acid
For years, 3M Co. supplied DuPont with a chemical used to make Teflon, the nonstick substance used on everything from pots and pans to clothing.

But the chemical that originated with 3M — perfluoro-octanoic acid, or PFOA — is now a suspected health risk. And the two industrial giants disagree on whether DuPont is playing fair with a 3M technology used to contain PFOA.

3M sued DuPont last week claiming it is failing to pay to use a patented process for making nonstick products that are largely free of PFOA. 3M's lawsuit says DuPont "continues to infringe" on the patent and has turned down repeated requests to license 3M's process.

"We have no intention of trying to stop anyone from using this technology, including DuPont," said Donna Runyon, a 3M spokeswoman. "We just want to receive fair compensation."

3M's lawsuit, filed in federal court in Minneapolis, doesn't list a dollar figure, but 3M is seeking damages and attorneys fees, plus interest.

DuPont, based in Wilmington, Del., acknowledges it is using the technology for fluoropolymer production, but it takes issue with 3M's claims of a patent violation.

"We are confident in our freedom to operate in manufacturing these products, and we will defend ourselves vigorously," said Dan Turner, a DuPont spokesman.

PFOA has been used for decades in the production of fluoropolymers, which are best known to consumers for their use in nonstick products. Fluoropolymers also are used in water-resistant <more>



Kansai Nerolac plans Rs 400 capacity ramp up
Kansai Nerolac Paints (KNP) today said it will invest Rs 400 crore over the next three years to increase its paint manufacturing capacity by 40 per cent to 2.8 lakh tonnes per annum.

KNP, in which Japan's largest paint maker Kansai Paint Company has 70 per cent stake, has five manufacturing plants - at Housr in Tamil Nadu, Jainpur in Uttar Pradesh, Perungudi in Tamil Nadu, Lote in Maharashtra and Bawal in Haryana - with a total capacity of 2 lakh tonnes per annum.

"We will invest Rs 400 crore over the next three years to increase the capacity to 2.8 lakh tonnes per annum. Out of the total investment, Rs 250 crore will be spent to introduce the industrial line in Hosur plant, which went on production last week," KNP's Managing Director H M Bharuka told PTI.

An additional Rs 150 crore would go towards increasing capacity in four other plants, he said, adding that KNP does not have any plan to set up a new plant now. <more>
 
Ashwin Dani is new vice president of FICCI
Ashwin Dani (67), Vice Chairman of Asian Paints Limited, has been elected as Vice President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

He was unanimously elected at the 82nd AGM of FICCI held recently in the capital. Dani is also on the Board of Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the country. <more>

Paint prices likely to rise soon
Getting your house or building painted would soon become more expensive, with paint manufacturers across the country planning to raise prices by anywhere between three and five per cent. Dealers say the rise will be seen across categories in the commercial, domestic and automobile paint segments.

Market leader Asian Paints, which accounts for 70 per cent of all sales, declined to comment. But, sources say the company would increase prices of all its products with effect from next week.

"The prices are going to increase for sure, given the excise duty hike and the increase in prices of raw materials. But, no formal communication has been carried out with the dealers as of now,&" said Hemant Somani, general manager, ICI Dulux, which has been taken over by global paint giant AkzoNobel. Norway's Jotun has also planned to increase prices. "We may not have an immediate increase in prices as of now, as we are trying to absorb the increase in costs as much as we can, but in the future we may have to,&" says Lopesh Dalal, marketing head, Jotun India.

The two per cent increase in excise duty, coupled with a rise in customs duties on crude oil by 2.24 per cent, is forcing the companies to raise prices of their products, since the by-products of crude oil are used as key raw materials in the manufacturing of paint.

Analysts believe it is the customer who will bear the ultimate brunt of this increase in prices, since retailers would not be able to absorb the hike. "The paint industry, particularly the domestic paint market, is very low on margins and has a fragmented distribution. Plus, the dealers are large in number but not big on capital, so they can't absorb these costs,&" explains Purnendu Kumar, senior analyst Technopak India.

Paint companies could, however, make up for the loss in margins during the festive season."Though prices are going up, the main peak time for the paint industry in India is Diwali, and people will still get their houses painted just as much,&" says Kumar <more>

Akzo Nobel Surface Chemistry To Increase Prices in North America
CHICAGO - (Business Wire) Effective April 1, 2010, or, as contracts allow, Akzo Nobel Surface Chemistry will increase the prices of various surfactants and polymers in North America.
These increases are necessitated by the continuing escalation in raw material cost, catalyst, energy, regulatory cost, labor cost, capital reinvestment and other factors. <more>

Brenntag
Brenntag has opened a new warehouse in Samutprakarn Province, Thailand and inaugurated a new headquarters office in Mumbai, India.
The new headquarters in India will focus on various industry segments including Engineering Plastics, Pharma, Agro, Dyes, Food, Flavours, Coatings and Silicones. Whilst the new warehouse in Thailand, covering an area of 4,901 m², enables Brenntag the separate storage of pharmaceuticals and chemicals as well as food products. “The new warehouse here in Thailand will allow us to continue our strategy to become a full-line distributor and to further grow in the Asian Pacific market”, stated Henri Néjade, CEO Brenntag Asia Pacific.
Brenntag markets a diversified line of specialty and industrial chemicals to a wide range of industries in Thailand such as Electronics and Electrical, Automotive, Home- and Personal Care, Textile, Paper, Paints and Coatings, Tyre & Rubber, Food & Nutrition and Pharmaceuticals.<more>

Demand for Carbon Black to Reach 11.6 Million Tons
CLEVELAND - World demand for carbon black is forecast to rise 4.3 percent per year through 2013 to 11.6 million metric tons, bolstered by a healthy global rubber market over the same period. Gains will be exaggerated to some extent by the fact that growth will be rising off a relatively weak base in 2008, when a significant part of the world experienced the beginnings of recession. The vast majority of carbon black finds use as reinforcement material in vulcanized rubber goods, with over 60 percent devoted to motor-vehicle tires alone. Carbon black demand from the tire sector is projected to increase 3.7 percent per year through 2013. The non-tire-rubber carbon black market will expand 4.8 percent per year. These and other trends are presented in World Carbon Black, a new study from The Freedonia Group Inc., a Cleveland-based industry research firm. <more>
 

The Fiscal 2010 demand for paint by market in Japan 
(01.04.2010-31.03.2011)  

 

Source TORYOHOCHI SHINBUNSYA CO.,LTD.(THE PAINT & FINISHING NEWS)

Developments in Pipeline Coatings
The economic crisis has affected pipeline construction as with many other industries, because of the lack of availability of finance for new projects, and because of the drop in oil and gas prices. However, oil prices are starting to rise again in 2010 and the outlook for pipe coating is very encouraging, according to Noru Tsalic, Consultant at Applied Market Information. He was speaking at the AMI conference on Pipeline Coating held in February 2010 in Vienna, Austria.
Russia has the largest natural gas reserves and is in the top 10 for oil reserves. Transneft has 49,000 km of pipelines and Gazprom, the world's largest gas company, has 169,000 km of gas transmission systems according to Tial. The most common onshore coating in the country is polyethylene. The average pipeline lifespan is 33 years and around 34% of oil trunklines are over 30 years old, which shows the potential for market growth.

ExxonMobil is the largest global petroleum company and in 2007 it was producing the equivalent of 4.2 million barrels of oil per day with 7 new upstream projects. Michael Surkein of the Development division has reviewed pipe coatings. Fusion bonded epoxy (FBE) is used up to 95C, with 3-layer polyethylene up to 80C and 3-layer polypropylene up to 110C (commonly used subsea). Polyurethane is sometimes added for insulation and compatibility with the polyolefin coating then becomes an issue. The company looks at aspects such as handling, cathodic disbondment and the ease of field joint coating.

FBE is the main pipe coating in North America and ANZAC, whereas polyolefins predominate in Western Europe, North Africa, Russia and South America. Canusa-CPS is working on improved coating systems, for example, the PP preheat temperature in the new GTS-PP is down to 160C, with an improved operating temperature rating of 140C.

Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung is a leading pipe coater. Chromium ions are used for pre- treatment for FBE coatings, but this process may be banned as it is very toxic. The company has recently studied alternative adhesion promoters including epoxysilane and aminosilane, Ti and phosphating. It is proving difficult to match the performance of chromating. <more>

Robots boost efficiency in powder coating
ABB says its robots have helped Electrolux reduce the emissions at its manufacturing plant in Dudley Park, South Australia.

The company installed a fully automated and flexible powder coating facility for oven and grill cavities at the plant, replacing a wet enamel flow-coating process.

The new process consists of a four stage ceramic powder coating line in which different sized and orientated oven and grill cavities are suspended from a moving, overhead transfer conveyor.

An IRC5 controller monitors the conveyor’s process and identifies the orientation and differences in the oven cavities and grill boxes.

Four ABB IRB 2400 six-axis robots, equipped with a ceramic powder coating nozzle system, operate in conjunction with the conveyor. Using the information from the controller, they move to the precise position to apply the appropriate powder pattern. <more>

AkzoNobel Coatings to Protect Oakland Bay Bridge
AkzoNobel's International Paint is the sole supplier of protective coatings for the overhaul of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge

Sherwin-Williams to Acquire Sayerlack Wood Coatings
The Sherwin-Williams Co. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Industrial Wood Coatings business of Arch Chemicals

Benjamin Moore Tells Painting Contractors
"Yes, There's an App for That"
(MONTVALE, NJ— FEBRUARY, 2010) -- Benjamin Moore stirred tremendous buzz with the introduction of an iPhone application that, since its availability last May, has been downloaded by more than 100,000 people who can snap a picture of any color inspiration and instantly match it to one of the more than 3,300 hues comprising Benjamin Moore’s color system. Now, painting contractors and designers have a Benjamin Moore iPhone app all their own.

The Benjamin Moore ProConnection iPhone app allows a contractor or designer to store vital client information on an iPhone, including names and contact details, before and after photos of a project, and other data that can aid in creating an on-the-go sales proposal and presentation. It is equipped, as well, with a GPS, which can often be a time-saver in finding a job site. Most importantly, there is instant connectivity to Benjamin Moore’s color collections and product information.

“Benjamin Moore has been diligent in harnessing the latest digital technology to help painting contractors and designers operate their businesses more efficiently and effectively,” said Nick Harris, Benjamin Moore Senior Manager, Marketing Communications. “The ProConnection iPhone app is one more innovation we’ve developed that they can add to their tool boxes. Moreover, it’s a free download, which makes it especially attractive.”  <more>

ICI Paints AkzoNobel takes PPG to court
Paint manufacturer ICI Paints AkzoNobel has launched legal proceedings against PPG Architectural Coatings Limited following Johnstone's Paints ongoing 'No. 1' advertising campaign.

The campaign, which draws direct comparisons between the Dulux Trade portfolio and PPG's Johnstone's Trade range, will be challenged by ICI Paints AkzoNobel's legal team in relation to the claims contained within the advertisements. ICI Paints AkzoNobel believes these claims to be misleading and unlawful.

Dr Steve Snaith, trade marketing director at Dulux Trade, said: "ICI Paints AkzoNobel is instigating legal proceedings in the High Court against PPG in relation to claims made in its current advertising campaign. We feel that we can no longer ignore this activity, as it is in danger of causing confusion in the market place and damaging our brand, in which we have tirelessly invested <more>

Ashok Leyland Pantnagar plant inauguration today by Pokhriyal and Deshmukh
Hinduja group flagship company Ashok Leyland today launched their Pantnagar plant with trend-setting technologies. Set over 190 scenic acres, the Pantnagar plant of Ashok Leyland is also its largest manufacturing facility. 200,000 sq.ms of built up area houses one of the most integrated manufacturing facilities in Indian commercial vehicle industry. Best in class industrial architecture combined with the latest manufacturing technologies has created a truly modern facility that is also ecology sensitive as reflected in the selection of machinery and processes.
Frame painting
Powder coating instead of conventional liquid painting eliminates hazardous pollutants while bestowing high corrosion resistance to withstand well over 500 hours of salt spray bath. The change of technology also ensures zero wastage of paint.
Cab painting
The CED coating system is led / tin free, employing robotics and reducing paint wastage. While propane gas cuts atmospheric pollution, the camel back type baking ovens reduces fuel consumption and heat dissipation. All material movement is automated to enhance operational safety and output quality  <more> <more2>

Jotun to spread wings
KOCHI: Jotun Paints has announced its plans to aggressively extend its retail footprint across the state by setting up 80 retail stores by 2011. <more>


Somerset County Company Expanding; Buys Former Manufacturing Plant

Manufacturing in the Alleghenies has taken a huge hit in recent months with rounds of layoffs and companies shutting down.
Now a vacant manufacturing plant in Somerset County has been sold and it could mean more jobs, officials said.

"With the new facility, we want to grow into doing more metal fabrication. We are also obtaining a large powder coating setup at the new building which we plan on putting to work," Augustine said<more>

New iPhone App for American Coatings Show
A new iPhone App is available free of charge for the American Coatings Show 2010 which takes place from 13-15 April in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. It enables users to interact with leading suppliers of raw materials, equipment and services. Companies, products and contact data can be found by category and specialty. The APP also helps to find the companies’ locations on the fairgrounds and to plan your days on the AC Show floor. Additionally, it provides access to hundreds of leading international suppliers and partners of the coatings industry, under the digital roof of the AC Market Navigator. Users can search for new raw materials, testing equipment and production technology in the coatings sector. The App can be downloaded from the iTunes store