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Between 1996 and 2005, the global color pigments market was impacted by declines in the prices for most pigment classes as production grew in Asia, particularly in China and India. There has also been significant growth in consumption in Asian markets, particularly in China.
Since the mid-1990s, production in China and India has rapidly increased; China is now the world’s largest organic color pigment producer. Over the same time period, major organic pigment producers have increased production globally, particularly in China. The volume of production in Europe, the United States and Japan has declined as the market has become globalized and gross margins have been squeezed.
In terms of value, North America and Europe are the largest markets for organic color pigments. By pigment class, 53% of the world value share is azo pigments; phthalocyanines (blue and green) have a 20% share. High-performance and other pigments accounted for the remainder. The classical azo and phthalocyanine pigment groups are characterized by lower profit margins resulting from rising competition from lower-priced imports, while the high-performance pigments group typically retains higher margins. This latter group is dominated by the leading organic pigment producers—BASF, Ciba Specialty, Clariant and Dainippon Ink and Chemicals.
The following pie chart shows world consumption of organic color pigments on a value basis:
The consumption of pigments is driven primarily by growth in the printing inks, paints and coatings, and plastics industries. Over the next five years, worldwide markets for organic color pigments are expected to grow at rates less than GDP, primarily because of decreases in printing ink consumption, the largest use for organic color pigments, in developed countries, particularly in the United States. Overall, slight growth is expected in the United States between 2007 and 2012, while in Europe modest growth is expected. In Japan, modest growth in consumption is also expected. In Asian countries other than Japan, consumption of organic color pigments will grow significantly, particularly in plastics, printing inks and also for surface coating and textile printing. |
