ANALYSIS: Moderately optimistic forecasts for the market of paints and varnishes

The Romanian market of paints and varnishes posted last year a drop between 7% and 10% compared to 2012, being valued by most operators in the area at about 300 million EUR. Even if estimates for 2014 show a slight increase in demand, it will not be enough to recover the losses suffered by companies in the nearly six years of recession. According to the Coatings Industry Association of Romania (AIVR), which unites together 18 of the leading specialized manufacturers, that have achieved in 2012 a total turnover of 212.25 million EUR, approximately 30 significant suppliers are active on the local profile market while the annual imports stand at about 48 million EUR. The market structure is dominated by the architectural paints (85.73% of total) and the materials for the automotive industry (12.19%), while the share of industrial paints are following the decline of the industry and reached only 2.08%. Given that the data from 2013 have not yet been centralized, the information are calculated for the year 2012. The change brought by last year in the industry was observed in the structural changes that occurred in the active domestic corporations such as the merger Fabryo - Atlas Paints or the sale of Deutek Romania by Advent International to the Axxess Capital investment fund. It must also to be noted, externally, the rallying to sustainability by the association between Akzo Nobel (as the European leader in the production of paints and varnishes) and the largest producers of raw materials in the field: BASF, Bayer, Evonik, Henkel, Lanexss and Solvay. Overall, the local market of paints and varnishes was characterized last year through the consumer orientation towards price, which resulted in a stabilization of quantitative sales in the industry together with a small lowering of their value. Furthermore, the tendency of the consumers to engage in renovation projects was materialized, the DIY operations being those that have supported the market, while the consumption in the building sector remained at a moderate level.