Developments in the Middle East Coatings Market

By Aggie Lotz

Prior to delivering the fifth edition of the Global Market Analysis to IPPIC, the ChemQuest Group, Inc. delivered the results of a separate deep-dive study of paint and coatings in Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA). ChemQuest’s SAGIA study uncovered the region’s seven major challenges such as establishing an open and free market in Saudi Arabia, missing key molecules for paints and coatings, as well as infrastructure and logistics, coatings standards and regula­tions, and a need for easier trade across borders.

ChemQuest also outlined a strategic plan for overcoming those challenges to position Saudi Arabia as the epicenter of industrial global growth aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. In May 2017, SAGIA held an inaugural meeting in Riyadh of its newly launched committee known as the Saudi Paint & Coatings Committee (Si>CC), which ran concurrently with the Saudi-U.S. CEO Forum and coincided with President Trump’s first visit to Saudi Arabia. Closely modeled after the American Coatings Association (ACA) from the standpoint of committee structure and governance,

SPCC’s objective is to form an industry committee framework on par with ACA:s in terms of governance and structure. If successful, SPCC’s goal is to be welcomed as a full-fledged member of IPPIC. To date, SPCC has convened on three separate occasions-first to elect an SPCC chairperson (Mr. Abdullah AI-Rabeeah), then to identify and form over five subcommittees whose mem­bers subsequently nominated their respective subcommittee chairs. The charter of each SPCC subcommittee is to develop and implement a resolution for overcoming at least one of the major challenges ChemQuest identified in its deep-dive study for SAGIA.

ChemQuest believes the most import­ant aspect is garnering worldwide atten­tion from the public and private sectors when the paints and coatings platform emerges as the first example of a process for establishing a downstream industry toward Vision 2030. This process will define a cookie-cutter approach to establishing other downstream indus­tries expanding SAGIA’s end-market scope to include adhesives, sealants, inks, textiles, nonwovens, plastics, and personal care- and homecare products, which use similar value chains as the coatings industry.