Pigment Prospects Fade Amid Fierce Competition : Low Prices Stifle Innovation.(Statistical Data Included)

Chemical Week, October, 1999 by Hume, Claudia

The last few years have been tough for pigment producers, and the future will be even harder, says Ray Will, senior consultant/pigments at SRI Consulting (Menlo Park, CA). Globalization has brought U.S. and European makers into direct competition with cut-price producers in India and China. "Producers in the West would like to think that better, safer pigments will win the battle, but the deciding factor is price," says Will.

Pigment production in China has soared in recent years, and although commodity inorganic pigments still constitute the majority of Asia's production, the amount of higher-value organic pigments is increasing. U.S. imports of the organic pigment phthalocyan Blue 15:3 doubled, to 2,500 m.t. between 1995 and 1998, says SRI Consulting; 42% of...

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