International Paint Broadens Mexico Network

International Paint’s Mexican affiliate, Compania Mexicana de Pinturas International SA de CV, has broadened its distribution network in Mexico through a new strategic alliance with, Sayer Lack Mexicana SA de CV. International Paint, a unit of AkzoNobel, has affiliates throughout Latin America, and is a major producer of marine and protective coatings. Sayer Lack already distributes AkzoNobel’s Devoe brand protective coatings in Mexico, and is a licensee of AkzoNobel’s Glidden architectural paints. Devoe was an ICI brand prior to AkzoNobel’s acquisition of the latter in 2008.

“Our distribution network also extends throughout Central America through an agreement with H.B. Fuller, and to part of the Caribbean through a recent agreement with Penta Paints in Trinidad and Harris Paint in Barbados. Additionally, an agreement with Global de Pinturas extends our network to Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela,” said Martin Criado, International Paint’s manager of Marine and Protective Coatings for Latin America, based in Toluca, Mexico. The Mercosur portion of South America is managed through the Brazilian affiliate of International Paint.

Among recent product releases, International Paint recently launched Interline 9001, a bimodal epoxy coating for chemical tanker cargo tanks.

The new distribution arrangement is expected to boost International Paint’s sales of marine and protective coatings in Mexico, particularly in the mining sector, with slower increases in the oil and gas, and power generation industries, says Criado.

As industrial production in Latin America rises, the demand for marine and protective coatings should rise in step, if not more rapidly. Mexico’s industrial production rose by 4.6 percent in the twelve months ending in May, according to government statistics.

Mexico is a central distribution point and management center for North-South trade between Latin America and the United States. Latin America’s regional economy is still booming, albeit at a slower pace than last year when regional growth hit 6.4 percent. The monthly industrial production statistics this year for some countries in the region, like Brazil, look like a seesaw.

However, in the long-term, Latin America is expected to perform well. The region’s largest trading partner currently is the European Union, but China is poised to be Latin America’s second largest trade partner by 2015, according to the United Nation’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), based in Santiago, Chile. 

Criado is a member the board of directors of Mexico’s national paint association, Asociacion Nacional De Fabricantes De Pinturas Y Tintas AC, or Anafapyt, in Mexico City. He also is a member of the Venezuelan Oil and Gas Association and Venezuelan Chemical Industry Association. Prior to joining International Paint, Criado was general manager at Pinturas International, C.A., the Venezuelan licensee of International Paint.