In September, Thailand was once again host to the annual Asia Pacific Coatings Show (APCS), which is held in Bangkok every three years. With more than 160 exhibitors and visitors from 32 countries from around the world in attendance, the three-day event was supported by the Thai Paint Manufacturers’ Association (TPMA) and was officially opened by Dr. Sansern Samalapa, Thailand’s vice minister for Commerce. Taking time to walk around the exhibition after the opening ceremony, Samalapa visited many of the domestic and international stands, taking an interest in the technology and products on display.

A Booming Industry
The busy halls demonstrated the continuing strength of Thailand’s coatings industry. Already a traditionally strong market for coatings, the country has recently been further buoyed by the growth in the South East Asian market as a whole.

Asia Pacific is the world’s largest coatings market, with an estimated annual output of around 23bn liters. This accounts for just more than half of the estimated global output of 42bn liters, according to figures from Orr & Boss Consulting. While China is the largest market in Asia and, indeed, the world, in recent years, India and South East Asia have started to grow faster as more established markets decline slightly, resulting in the two regions overtaking Japan and South Korea to become the second and third largest coatings markets in Asia. South East Asia now accounts for approximately 11 percent of Asia’s coatings industry, in line with India and above Japan (10 percent) and South Korea (7 percent).

Given this optimistic economic background, the continuing stability of Thailand’s new government has also increased investor and consumer confidence in the country. Societal trends, such as a growing middle class and increasing urbanization (Frost & Sullivan predicts Thailand’s urban population will account for 56.2 percent by 2021), have led to an increase in the construction of both homes and public service facilities, such as hospitals. This, inevitably, buoys the coatings industry in Thailand across many sectors and paints a rosy picture for the years to come.

Exhibitors and visitors to APCS 2019 were able to take advantage of Thailand’s booming industry, by reconnecting with existing business partners and developing relationships with new contacts across the three-day event. Visitors were able to attend the exhibition free of charge, to see the breadth of technology, products and services on offer from the 167 exhibitors. APCS remains the leading coatings event in South East Asia and the Pacific Rim for raw materials suppliers and equipment manufacturers for the coatings industry, covering the entire spectrum from ingredients to equipment, products and services. For example, companies exhibiting at the event included filling and packaging equipment manufacturer, J De Vree (Belgium); testing technology manufacturer, Atlas Material (Germany); color dispersions company, Soujanya (India); and tinting equipment manufacturer, Corob (Italy), to name a few.

This year, tinting and ink company Teko exhibited at APCS in Bangkok for the first time, as detailed by Silvio Cimenti, global director of Branding, Marketing and Communications at Inkmaker Worldwide.

“Teko has a significant foothold in South East Asia, with just in excess of 50 percent market share in the tinting business alone," Cimenti said. "Thailand has played a more crucial role with regards to all the other products we sell in the region, e.g. Easypaint by Inkmaker and filling lines, however, it still remains an emerging market for us and one that we are keen to penetrate further into, in future. This was the first time that Teko exhibited at Asia Pacific Coatings Show in Bangkok, with its strong portfolio of brands. We received a particularly good response on the second day, from existing clients and from some new leads, with especial interest focused on our partner, Inkmaker’s, renowned Easypaint solution. It is still premature, at this stage, for us to comment on the ROI garnered from the show but from the outcome, we are strongly considering it in our future marketing plans.”

Also at the Show
Visitors and exhibitors at APCS were also invited to attend the Business Presentation Area, an informative and relaxed forum for companies to discuss their latest developments and equipment.

Presentations this year included speakers from BYK-Chemie (Germany); Potters Industries (Australia); Siam Chemical Industry (Thailand); and Shandong Landu New Material Co Ltd (China), amongst others.

The Asia Pacific Coatings Conference was also, as ever, held alongside the exhibition and chaired by leading industry expert, Dr. Marcel Piens. The Conference was held on days one and two of the show and included talks from industry experts from Troy, Hoffmann Mineral, Behr Paint, IHS Markit and ystral, amongst others. The Conference allowed delegates the opportunity to engage directly with the speakers, encouraging knowledge-sharing and learning. The presentations and case studies covered a range of topics, such as "Choosing the right pigments for architectural coatings;" "Developing a unique color range for TOA Paints and the South East Asian market," ‘Sustainability issues in the coatings industry;" and "Advanced multi-function additives for water-based coatings."