Interview: “The wood coatings market is very challenging”

How would you describe the current state of the wood coatings market?

Dr Marcello Vitale: The wood coatings market is very challenging. The consequences of the Iran war bite: the fierce competition that characterises our industry makes it difficult to recover the increased costs of raw materials and energy for coatings producers, quite contrary to the gain it has brought for chemical producers upstream. Demand grows and falls rapidly as customers try to fill up their stocks in anticipation of cost increases or to protect against product unavailability.

Investments are needed now in digitalization of production and R&D, to be able to meet the current challenges and not fall behind. Finally, the geopolitical storms are forcing a rethink of the balance of procurement choices, increasing the weight of secure long-term supply over lowest immediate cost. A lot of moving pieces that offer risks and opportunities.

How much has the wood coatings industry changed structurally over the past years?

Vitale: Consolidation of coatings producers via acquisition by the largest companies of successful smaller competitors is also having the side effect of making room for other smaller companies to grow by exploiting their greater flexibility. Competition is hardly decreasing.

The market requires ever greater customization of effects and performance. Some large industrial operations are achieving those effects via digitalization using few coating formulations, most others by requiring small, bespoke coating lots.

Which external pressures are currently forcing the most fundamental rethinking in the wood coatings industry?

Vitale: Ever more frequently, the first thing a customer wants to see is not the can of paint but documentation and certificates. That is true for sustainability (e.g., the Carbon FootPrint, despite some contrary media and political noise, is becoming a standard request) and for performance parameters. Public procurement mandates follow the diffusion of private quality labelling schemes. Increasingly, quality is synonymous with health, safety, durability and protection of the environment.

On the other hand, the continuous push and pull-on raw materials availability and cost is making stable production a challenge. The only possible solution for a coatings producer is to gain ever better control over formulations and production conditions, and deeper understanding of how they impact all the coating characteristics.

You are delivering the keynote “Adapt or die: crises are great at focusing minds” the European Coatings “Frontiers in Wood Coatings” which takes place October 6 -7 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. What can attendees expect?

Vitale: I hope they will find some thought-provoking ideas about what the European wood coatings industry needs to do, as individual companies and as a value chain- to remain on top technically and economically despite the challenges already known, and preparing to face new ones that can/will surprise us in the future.

Event Tip: EC Conference Frontiers in Wood Coatings

The EC Conference Frontiers in Wood Coatings, formerly the Wood Coatings Congress, has established itself as the international reference platform for scientific and technical exchange in the field of wood coatings. Over the course of two intensive days in Amsterdam, the conference will bring together stakeholders from across the value chain — from resin and additive producers to leading research institutes, coating manufacturers, and end-use industries — to discuss the latest advances in formulations, application processes, and sustainable solutions.

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