Berger Paints Q4 PAT up 26%
Net profit for the quarter ended on 31st March, 2011 was Rs. 340mn as against Rs.270mn in the corresponding quarter of last year representing an increase of 26% over the corresponding period of last year.

Net Sales for the quarter ended on 31st March, 2011 was Rs. 5.87bn as against Rs. 4.78bn in the corresponding quarter of the last year representing an increase of 23% over the corresponding period of last year.

Earnings Before Depreciation, Interest and Tax (EBDIT) for the quarter ended on 31stMarch, 2011 was Rs. 680mn as against Rs. 520mn in the corresponding quarter of the last year representing an increase of 31% over the corresponding period last year.<more>

'There isn't any sign of a slowdown': Subir Bose, MD, Berger Paints India
Subir Bose, managing director, Berger Paints India, says the expected economic slowdown would not materially affect the paint industry, with the financial outlook still robust. Edited excerpts of a talk with Priya Kansara Pandya. Edited excerpts:

How do you see the expected slowdown in economic growth, led by a series of rate hikes, affecting demand for paints?
We have not seen any sign of slowdown in the demand for paints. This is not the first time our economy has been expected to slow down. I think we are reading too much into it.

Do you think competition is increasing in this space?
I am not too worried, as it has always been there. I do not think the slowdown will materially affect the competitive scenario.
How do you see 2011-12, after the robust performance in 2010-11, led mainly by volume growth?
I am looking at a value growth in excess of over 20 per cent, similar to FY11. I would like to give a forecast for volume growth only after the peak season (August-October) in terms of demand for paints gets over.

Are you planning to raise prices in FY12, given the significant hike of 12 per cent in FY11?
The April-June quarter will see a price increase of 8.5-8.8 per cent. While two price increases totalling 6.8 per cent have already been undertaken, another two per cent will be happen soon. Any further prices rise will depend on the future upsides in raw material costs.

What is the outlook on crude oil-based raw materials and margins?
In the past month, several raw materials have started cooling off. I believe raw material prices have reached their peak and would remain steady or slightly cool off.

On margins, I see marginal improvement from FY11 levels, aided by sales growth, benefits of economies of scale, expected cooling of raw material cost and improved product mix..<more>

Kansai Nerolac Paints will raise prices by about two per cent across its decorative range on July 1 due to hike in TiO2 prices.
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Hempel expands in India
Hempel, one of the world’s leading industrial and marine paint suppliers, is expanding its operations in the Indian subcontinent. With the opening of a new manufacturing unit in Nashik, Maharashtra, Hempel is strengthening its manufacturing capabilities and presence in the Indian subcontinent. The company also plans to invest approximately €15-20 million in a greenfield project over a period of three years.
Expansion in the Indian market is an important element within Hempel’s business strategy, ‘One Hempel – One Ambition’. “We are excited to expand our presence in the Indian subcontinent and supply not only India, but also Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Nepal,” says Kim Junge Andersen, CFO, Hempel. “We’ve had very positive experiences with our organisation in India and the new plant will significantly boost our ability to serve our growing customer base in this region.”
The new plant will feature the latest in environmentally friendly coating production equipment, including a semi-automatic powder handling system, an automatic liquid dosing system and a solvent <more>

Carlyle invests US$25 million in India’s manufacturer of water-based polymer emulsions, Visen Industries Limited
An affiliate of global alternative asset manager, The Carlyle Group, has invested US$25 million in Visen Industries Limited, a large manufacturer of water-based polymer emulsions in India. Funds from the affiliate, First Carlyle Ventures III (FCV III), will be used by Visen to expand its manufacturing capacities in India and abroad.

Visen is well established in the Indian polymer emulsions market. It manufactures the entire range of water-based polymer emulsions including acrylates, versatates and poly vinyl acetate, catering to customers across industries encompassing paints, textiles, adhesives and construction. It has long standing relationships with industry players including Asian Paints, Berger Paints, Kansai Nerolac and Jotun Paints.

Visen also caters to export demand from customers in the Middle East and Africa. As part of its growth strategy, Visen is strengthening and growing its business in India while expanding its presence in international markets<more>

Nordson Corporation Opens New Chinese Demo Center To Further Meet The Needs Of Its Advanced Technology Systems Customers
Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ: NDSN) today announced the opening of a new demo center in Dongguan, China that will further the company’s ability to meet the needs of customers in its Advanced Technology Systems operating segment. The new center will initially be focused on products and solutions provided by the Advanced Technology segment’s market leading Nordson ASYMTEK, Nordson DAGE, and Nordson YESTECH brands. The new facility will provide greater access to equipment demonstrations, application engineering support, training, sales, and service for customers in South China’s expanding high tech manufacturing industry.

"The new facility in Dongguan adds to the already high level of support Nordson currently provides its customers throughout China, and is an ideal complement to our long time existing facilities in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Suzhou,” explained Greg Wood, Vice President, Nordson Advanced Technology Group, Asia. “Our business serving customers in electronics and related technology end markets in South China continues to grow. The Dongguan center allows us to be closer to these customers and offer solutions to meet their dispensing, coating and testing needs more rapidly. As always, making our customers more successful continues to drive our efforts.”

Nordson ASYMTEK is a world leader in precision automated fluid dispensing, conformal coating, and jetting technologies. It designs and manufactures a full line of dispensing and coating systems, supported by a global applications and service network. Nordson DAGE manufactures high resolution x-ray inspection and bond testing equipment for analyzing the integrity of electronic connections in semiconductor packages and printed circuit board assemblies. Nordson YESTECH designs and manufactures automated optical inspection and x-ray inspection systems for yield enhancement in electronic assembly industries.<more>

Asia’s liquid epoxy resin (LER) prices are expected to continue falling
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Asia’s liquid epoxy resin (LER) prices are expected to continue falling in line with the region’s weak downstream demand and declining feedstock epichlorohydrin (ECH) and bisphenol A (BPA) prices, industry sources said on Wednesday.
LER prices fell by $200/tonne (€140/tonne) over the last four weeks to settle at $3,250-3,550/tonne FOB (free on board) northeast (NE) Asia (iso-tank) on 28 June, according to ICIS.
The Chinese government has imposed two interest rate hikes and raised the reserve requirement ratio six times this year, causing the poor performance in the country’s downstream markets, several Chinese producers said.
The weak downstream demand in China is causing regional LER prices to decline, as end-users are finding difficulty in raising capital for their purchases, Chinese producers said.
LER prices are likely to soften further if downstream demand in China continues to weaken, a Chinese producer said.
A northeast Asian producer added that it may scale back on its LER production if demand worsens.
In addition, offers for deep-sea cargoes from China have not attracted buying interest in recent weeks because of the prevailing high shipping rates, which have in turn caused LER prices in northeast Asia to drop and limited exports from China, several northeast Asian producers said.<more>



Pantone Gives Designers 175 New Ways to Celebrate Color

Expanded PANTONE FASHION + HOME Color System Now Offers a Total of 2,100 Engaging, Directional Hues
Pantone LLC, an X-Rite company (NASDAQ: XRIT) and the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, today announced the addition of 175 new colors to its PANTONE® FASHION + HOME Color System, bringing its total to 2,100 shades. A behind-the-scenes view into the selection of these new colors for the PANTONE FASHION + HOME Color System can be seen at www.pantone.com/newcolors.<more>


PPG's Chinese Resin Plant Commences Operation
PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG) began operations today at a new facility in the Zhangjiagang Yangtze International Chemical Industrial Park, Jiangsu Province, which is its first resin production plant in Mainland China. With initial production capacity of 27,000 metric tons per year, the plant will supply advanced resin products to PPG coatings plants and other customers in the region.

"Start-up of the Zhangjiagang plant marks another important milestone in PPG's history of doing business in China," said Charles E. Bunch, PPG chairman and chief executive officer. "This resins plant will help PPG to better serve China and other countries in the Asia/Pacific region, reinforcing our leading position in the regional paint and coatings industry as well as our focus on growth in these rapidly developing economies. Additionally, the plant's 'green' systems and construction help PPG to honor its commitment to sustainable operation."<more>

NASA ‘Smart Coating’ Eyes Hidden Rust
Smart Materials Concept
The use of "smart materials" for corrosion sensing relies on a material undergoing a  transformation
through its interaction with the corrosive environment. Such transformations can potentially be used for indicating and detecting corrosion damage. Ideally, the sensing function could be integrated with additional actuation and control functions, designed to control corrosion damage.<more>

AkzoNobel, PPG Extend China Ties
The world’s two largest coatings companies are again expanding their presence in China—AkzoNobel, with a new titanium dioxide plant; and PPG Industries, with a new headquarters.

AkzoNobel Partners on TiO2
AkzoNobel has announced a partnership with Guangxi CAVA Titanium Industry Co. Ltd. to produce and supply titanium dioxide, better securing AkzoNobel’s growing need for the popular white pigment in the Asian market.<more>

Union betrays nine-week Australian PPG paint workers’ strike
More than 120 paint workers have today resumed work at PPG Industries in Melbourne, after the United Voice (UV) union orchestrated an end to their nine week strike. The union delivered all the central demands of the US-based company, including the introduction of a two-tier wage regime. New starters will receive 43 percent lower wages, and important overtime benefits for the existing workforce will be eliminated.
The sell out was the culmination of a conscious strategy by United Voice bureaucrats to isolate and wear down the striking workers. A media blackout was imposed from the early stages of the struggle, and the last mention of the strike on the UV website appeared on April 15. No picket was formed, which facilitated PPG using contract and other scab labour to continue operations in the plant. The factory is in the middle of a large industrial area—yet workers in neighbouring plants, let alone the wider working class, would have had no idea that the PPG workers were on strike.<more>

Jotun penetrates $126m wood-coating market
Jotun Paints has launched a new and improved Woodshield product range to help it further penetrate the region's wood-coating segment, currently valued at over $126m.
A recent report from research firm AMRB states that the total volume of the Middle East wood-coating market is 31.5m litres, or around 5% of the total paint market. The figures also include other products like stains, varnishes and enamels for wood.
Jotun is now looking to consolidate its market share with the introduction of ‘True Wood Protection’ as its new wood-coating brand promise, and to increase volume shares by at least 2%.<more>

Auto Sales Fall in May on Souring Economy
The silver lining: the "Big Three" are back on top

It looks like rising gasoline prices and other concerns about the direction of the economy have finally cut into U.S. auto sales. For the seven largest automakers, GM, Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Chrysler, Honda, and Hyundai, sales fell 8% in May compared to the same month a year earlier. But not all auto companies' sales suffered.
Let's start with the year-over-year results:

You could just about draw a diagonal line across these auto companies' results. On the weak end, you've got the Japanese automakers. They experienced some shortages stemming from the recent earthquake. Toyota, in particular experienced a very weak May. Towards the middle of the chart, we have the American automakers. GM's and Ford's sales were virtually flat, while Chrysler scored the biggest annual gain of the group. At the high end comes Hyundai, which scored its best May ever as sales rose 21%.<more>

Berger Paints Oman names new GM
India-based Asian Paints, the largest user of the colour mixing technology, has appointed P K Raj as general manager of its subsidiary Berger Paints Oman.
As general manager, Raj will oversee the strategy, policy, business planning, legal, performance and quality improvement functions of Berger Paints in Oman.
He started his career with Asian Paints (India) in Mumbai and after a long stint in Bangalore, Guwahati and Kolkata, he was deputed to the international business operations of Asian Paints in South Pacific region.<more>

Sherwin Williams eyes 15-20% stake in Berger Paints
Consolidation seems to have painted the imagination of paint companies. After the buzz about Shalimar paints it is now Sherwin-Williams that is painting giant strokes to expand its canvas in India.

The world's third largest paint company Sherwin has set its eyes on the third largest company in India, Berger Paints. Sources tell us that Sherwin Williams is looking to acquire 15-20 per cent of Berger Paints. The deal is at the initial stages and if materialized could rake in Rs. 750-1000 crore for Berger Paints.

In a reply to queries sent to both the companies involved, Berger Paints has said that they do not comment on market speculation.

While Sherwin Williams has said that it does not comment on M& A speculation in India or anywhere else around the world.<more>

Valspar Announces Price Increase for Coil Coatings
The Valspar Corporation VAL has announced price increases for their Coil and Extrusion product lines effective August 1, 2011. The increases range up to 8% depending on the product type. This latest action is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to offset the impact of rising raw material costs.
“Our raw material costs continue to rise at a significant rate, necessitating this latest price increase,” said Cordell Dietz, vice president and general manager, Valspar Coil Coatings. “We are committed to investing in technology and services that deliver exceptional value to our customers.”<more>

Graco CEO says ITW companies will stand alone
Graco buys ITW Gema for $650 million, hoping to grow business to more than $1B
Graco President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick McHale said there were compelling reasons why his company purchased ITW’s finishing business in April, which they hope will result in $1 billion in combined sales.

“We just like a lot of things about this about this acquisition,” says McHale, who will add equipment lines such as Gema powder finishing, Binks industrial pumping, DeVilbiss auto refinish guns, Ransburg electrostatic guns, and BGK curing technology to the Graco line-up.

“This deal strengthens our industrial segment with some very high quality brand,” he says. “We had a very good position in wet paint, but none in powder coating. We understand their sales process, and now this gives us scale, especially in China, India and South America.” <more>