Pigments ll – Growing Demand for Specialty Effect Pigments

By Cynthia Challener,

Like high-value organic pig­ments, specialty effect pigments find most applications in automo­tive coatings, although use of these high-value pigments is increasing in consumer goods and security appli­cations. At the present, the market is growing at a healthy rate, but competition from offshore produc­ers is expected to become an issue in the near future. Major suppliers of effect pigments are focusing on the development of novel technolo­gies and products that differentiate themselves from the competition.

The global specialty effect pig­ment market is growing at approxi­mately 7% per year and is estimated to be worth $1.287 billion in 2004, up from $ 1.065 billion in 2001, ac­cording to Mike Brown of the ChemQuest Group, Inc., a manage­ment consulting firm located in Cincinnati, OH. Mica pearlescent and aluminum flake pigments ac­count for 94% of sales ( 50°/o and 44%, respectively). Mica pigments sales are growing at 8% per year and are estimated by ChemQuest to reach $649 million in 2004. Aluminum-based pigments are pegged at $562 million in 2004 with an annual growth rate of 4%. The remaining 6% of sales are at­tributed to other specialty effect pig­ments, particularly color shift pig­ments. Sales for this category are estimated to top $ 7 6 million in 2004 and are growing at a rapid 15% annually.