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European Coatings Show Preview December 2014 www european coatings show com 4 Focus The volume declines came to a halt The only fly in the ointment is ongoing high raw materials prices and possible political unrest recent years came to a halt in many countries in 2013 Moderate growth is expected for 2014 and 2015 Demand for paints and coatings in Germany the largest European market is experiencing above GDP growth in 2014 as a result of the recovery in both archi tectural paints and industrial coatings Other geographic markets exhibiting dynamic growth are Poland Turkey the UK and Spain The healthy state of the economy in the UK and the trend towards greater economic stability in South ern Europe are important drivers for a healthier state of the European paints and coatings market    Which segments are per forming most successfully von Dungen In Europe and especially in certain geographic areas such as Southern Europe the con struction building sector is slowly returning to growth after years of contraction with new residential and commercial buildings along with infrastructure improve ments The gradual eco nomic recovery and greater credit availability are inspir ing confidence to invest in residential industrial and commercial buildings The concurrent easing of State funding is encouraging new and maintenance infrastruc ture projects These positive developments are expected to continue through 2016 and will help to meet pent up demand The favourable investment climate and lower unemployment are supporting consumer spend ing and home improvement activities European industrial produc tion picked up earlier in 2013 Industrial production is being stimulated not only by internal demand within individual European coun tries but also very much by exports The improvement in both the European and the global economy is creat ing demand for goods to be exported inside and outside Europe About two thirds of exports take place within the confines of Europe in cluding Eastern Europe and Turkey This upward trend is expected to continue    Assembly and export of durable goods are specific growth segments which should continue to expand in the short to medium term Can you please provide us with an outlook for the next two years too von Dungen The mild Eu ropean economic recovery could well continue through 2016 if it is not hampered by major political unrest for example in Russia and the Ukraine This recovery should have a positive influ ence on demand for paints and coatings which could grow about 2 annually in the medium term Nev ertheless this upswing is unlikely to bring European Monique von Dungen Chem Research volume demand back to the pre recession level of 2008 Demand will hopefully reach a stable and sustainable level by 2016 with stronger growth in 2015 i e 2 3 than in 2016 i e 1 2 On the other hand the raw material cost situation is expected to become less favourable than it was in 2012 2013 Recent supply shortages and changes in petrochemical feedstock availability are putting pres Moderate but good pros pects are in store for the paint and coatings market in 2015 and 2016 says Monique von Dungen Managing Partner Chem Research GmbH Thanks to the economic recovery and stability in EU member states  What is the general situ ation in the European Coatings market Monique von Dungen The European Union s gradual economic recovery is hav ing a positive influence on demand for paints and coat ings The volume declines in sure on prices This situation is likely to impact on the profit margins of paints and coatings xz Take a holiday at the seaside and make glue From Neanderthal man to the World Wars through to current uses structural epoxies which were used in the Mosquito aircraft to bond plywood to aluminium using the Redux process Today the sexy uses of adhesives are to be found in high performance applications such as aircraft and F1 cars but the volumes employed there are small While structural adhesives will find their niche the likely major developments will be in packaging Be cause of the exploding use of the internet for purchasing goods there is a need for secure packaging for postal delivery The use of secure packaging using stiff light weight board already itself a bonded product is in my opinion the area for major expansion in the future  You know a lot about adhesives What fascinates you most about this technology Adams While adhesives have been in use for thou sands of years modern adhesives have only been possible since the invention of polymers at the end of the use of structural adhesives But perhaps the most impor tant developments in recent years have been the crea tion of stable and durable surfaces to which adhesives can be attached These sur faces are needed both for the paint and the adhesives As Leonardo da Vinci s painting of the Last Supper in Milan showed it doesn t matter how good your artistry is if you do not get the surfaces right In his case the paint began to fall off after a few years and it has been over 19th century Until then the basic raw materials for adhe sives came from animal prod ucts such as blood bone hides and milk or from vegetable matter derived mainly from sugary products in trees The exception was the occurrence of pitch from what are now the oil wells of the Middle East The Babylo nians used a lot of pitch for construction with the mud bricks of the time and for waterproofing The earliest known use of adhesives was based on the sugar rich sap of the birch tree itself one of the two earliest trees along with the pine to appear af ter the last ice age Examples have been found in Germany of the use of birch adhesives by Neanderthal Man Of course many developments in adhesives were driven by hunting war and the decorative arts necessity advantage and beauty In World War One aircraft were primitive but the lightweight wooden structures used furniture adhesives while dope was used to cover the fabric for the frame and the wings After this aircraft used various forms of at tachment and rivets became popular However the need for higher performance led to the development of the Mosquito by the RAF This showed that plywood itself a bonded material could be attached to aluminium frames by epoxy adhesives a system pioneered by de Bruyne and colleagues at Duxford Indeed the latest aircraft such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner could not be made without the extensive Prof Robert D Adam University of Bristol Prof Robert Adams Emeritus Professor of Applied Mechanics at the University of Bristol is fascinated by the history of glue He be lieves there should be more research into silicone adhe sives in the future  Adhesives are used in a very wide field Which appli cation is for you the one with the biggest future Prof Robert Adams Devel opments in adhesives were slow until 1945 Although polymers had been invented by Otto John and others at the end of the 19th century it needed the pressures of war to advance the application of structural adhesives De Bruyne and others invented painted many times As Wolfgang Pauli is reputed to have said God made solids but surfaces are the work of the Devil  Regarding the different raw materials for adhesives do you see a trend towards one binder concept or any other technological shift Adams Looking to the fu ture we can see that oil and similar hydrocarbons which are the feedstock for most modern adhesives will be a declining commodity How ever we have an abundance of sand so we should be looking more towards sili cone adhesives assuming we can get the energy from the sun to create the adhe sive Perhaps we should take a holiday at the seaside and make glue But seriously there should be a lot more research into the chemistry of silicone adhesives While this may not see extensive application for some years it is my belief that silicone ad hesives will be used increas ingly in the future xz The history of glue is fascinating Source Makuba Fotolia