Colorful palette: Ceresana examines the world market for pigments

KONSTANZ, Germany - Sept. 23, 2020 - PRLog -- Small particles provide orientation and signal effect as well as camouflage and sun protection, if necessary: pigments are coloring substances that are essentially insoluble in water or other application media. They are mainly added to paints and coatings, plastics, and building materials. The region Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest share of global demand in 2019. The market researchers at Ceresana also expect the highest growth over the coming years for this region of the world, together with Africa. Global demand for pigments is forecast to increase to around 11.14 million tonnes by 2027.

Surface Decoration and Protection

The most important sales market for the pigment industry in 2019 was the application area paints and coatings with a demand of 4.65 million tonnes. The demand in the category plastics ranked second by a considerable margin, followed by the application areas construction materials, printing inks, and paper. Interior and facade paints for the construction industry account for around 2.4 million tonnes of pigments. The second largest sub-market is industrial products, where coatings can perform a variety of functions: protection against environmental influences, decoration, as well as, for example, electrical insulation for electrical goods or an oxygen barrier for food packaging.

Pigments for Plastics and Printing Inks

With around 1.3 million tonnes, rigid and flexible packaging accounts for the majority of pigment applications in the plastics sector. The second largest area of use is in industrial applications, for example in components for the automotive industry, electrical engineering and electronics, mechanical engineering, medical technology, and the agricultural industry. With regard to printing inks, the use of pigments in offset printing dominates the total market for printing inks with a share of 52%. The second largest application is the use of pigments in flexographic printing, which is used in particular for flexible packaging, cellulose and nonwovens, labels, corrugated cardboard, cardboard boxes, and films.

Titanium Dioxide and Iron Oxide are the Most Important Pigment Types

Inorganic and organic pigments can be distinguished by their chemical composition: organic pigments are based on carbon whereas inorganic pigments are usually metal salts. The white, inorganic compound titanium dioxide (TiO2) accounts for about 59% of the global demand for pigments. Titanium dioxide is mainly used for paints and coatings. The second largest sales market is iron oxide pigments, the most widely used inorganic color pigment. Carbon black follows in third place: it is primarily used as a filler for rubber applications, especially in car tires; however, it can also be used as a pigment.

Further information: https://www.ceresana.com/en/market-studies/chemicals/pigm...