Delegates and exhibitors at the 9th North African Coatings Congress held October 12-13 in Casablanca, Morocco, described the event as a great opportunity for coatings manufacturers, industry decision makers and product consumers to network and get a better glimpse of the region’s coatings market and how best to tap into the existing business growth prospects.

“The delegates were able to meet friends, do business and obtain inspirational ideas by attending the conference and visiting the exhibition - all under one roof,” said Kez Chen, group sales director for dmg’s The Coatings Group, the organizer of the event.
And the picking of Morocco as the host of the North African Coatings Congress was deliberate Chen said while quoting the world famous Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun who once asserted: “In Morocco, it’s possible to see the Atlantic and the Mediterranean at the same time.”

“With the world’s major economies growing at a conservative pace, emerging markets, such as Morocco and its surrounding economic belt, is becoming the new propeller of the region and as the sixth largest economy in Africa, Morocco achieved a remarkable 4.5 percent growth in GDP in 2015,” said Chen.

He said Morocco’s mining, construction and manufacturing sector, “which is heavily related to the coatings industry, account for 25 percent of its gross domestic product.”

Companies exhibiting at the Congress expressed hope of possible business orders after the event that also saw experts give 11 presentations on the science behind the manufacturer of coatings.

“We have attended the last five NACC events and it has been great,” said Timir Shah, senior manager International Marketing at the Indian Chemical Industries. The India-based company is one of the leading manufacturers of pigments and dyestuffs with a distribution network in the U.S., Germany, Canada, Eastern Europe, Middle East, North East Africa, South Africa, Japan and Mauritius. Shah said the company currently focuses on the global supply of premium quality dyes and intermediates to the paper, plastic, rubber, paint, textile and automobile industries.

“The North African Coatings Congress has been more of an eye opener for our company which has previously focused on the Algerian market,” said Luca Bertone, technical sales manager at Dromont, a global producer of factory systems and industrial applications with multiple clients spread across the paint, ink, textile, ceramic, cosmetic and specialty chemical industries especially for the Europe, America, China and Far East Asia markets.

“We hope to create more partnerships with new clients during and after this Congress,” he said.

“I think the North African Coatings Congress is a good opportunity for all us in the coatings industry,” said Christian Getzmann, managing director VMA-GETZMANN GmbH, a German-based manufacturer of dispersion systems.

“I expect to make contacts during this event and probably get to tell potential customers about our dispersion systems although it may take a while before such contacts strike a deal with us,” he said.

Christian said the Congress was a good forum for his company to demonstrate “how through the use of the machine we can have less pigments in paint production and therefore less filler use making it affordable for our customers.”

He also took visitors to the VMA-GETZMANN stand through the company’s innovative dispersion and fine grinding systems for laboratory and pilot plant, the DISPERMAT dissolver, vacuum dissolver, bead mills, basket mills, homogenizer and stirrer currently manufactured at the Germany factory for the global market.

“I also felt encouraged to attend the North African Coatings Congress after receiving good feedback from the East African Coatings Congress in Nairobi mid this year,” he said.

“I am optimistic with the huge population in Africa, there are opportunities for growth and people will always buy food that need packaging and therefore the demand for an industry that can meet this packaging need,” he said.

“The North African Coatings Congress is a great opportunity for us to meet potential customers and expand our reach in this market,” said Edward Sainsbury, an account manager with G&J Resources Inc. The company, which was first incorporated in Canada 15 years ago, manufactures and distributes titanium dioxide pigment that it says are “manufactured through the most advanced chloride process, which provides better whiteness and stability.”

“We would want to know what our customers want from us and because I think we have the capacity to manufacture titanium pigments that are customized to meet their specific needs,” he said.

Sainsbury, who emphasised the company’s long-term business strategy of “looking for long-term business relationships that work for our customers,” said the G & J Resources Inc. had an opportunity at the NACC to make new contacts which would probably lead to product orders in coming months.

But not all exhibitors were excited about their participation in the North African Coatings Congress.

“I am not sure we are participating in the right event because most of the participants here are raw material users like us and our initial expectation really was to interact more with buyers of the products we make,” said Giangiorgio Griziotti of the Italian firm Co.ver.lit. Ltd.

He said the company works with producers of metallic packaging -beverage especially in the food industry such as aluminum screw caps, boxes, aerosol cans or trays.

“These are some of the people we expected to meet the event and connect with them, make contacts and explore opportunities in the African market,” he said.

Dmg events’ Coating Division marketing manager Kieran Proverbs said this year’s North African Coatings Congress “went beyond our expectations.”

He said the event attracted more than 500 delegates and 35 exhibitors “which provides an ideal opportunity for close contact sessions and discussions among delegates and also with exhibitors.”

“The event is a great opportunity because it really creates a forum that brings together decision makers and customers like no other. Some of the customers interact with people who make investment or business decisions for companies, which I think is a great idea,” said Proverbs.

“The Congress helps speed up the business process because delegates get contacts through which they are able to talk directly to the people responsible for specific company areas without passing through other intermediaries,” he said.

BASF’s Saloua Hebchane-Es-Sayafi was among the 11 presenters at the Congress where she took delegates through the company’s formulation additives, which she said are now more than ever before dictated by the “latest and most stringent environmental regulations.”

“BASF Formulation Additives produce defoamers to eliminate undesired foam and (micro-) air bubbles from paints and coatings,” she said.

She said: “A good defoamer active should be insoluble in the medium for a long time to ensure the long term effectiveness of the defoamer droplets, have low surface tension in order to be able enter the air/liquid interface and also have capacity to spread at the air/liquid interface in order to weaken the foam stabilizing surfactant layer.”

Hebchane-Es-Sayafi said the market for sustainable formulations is driven mainly by demand for resource efficiency, durability and improved health and safety.

Michel Diels, industry specialist at the Netherlands-based Synres BV, an independent producer of solventborne resins for decorative, industrial wood, protective/marine and vehicle refinishes, told delegates that a recent study by the company shows increasing demand for solventborne direct to metal (DTM) coatings for the agriculture, construction, earthmoving (and transportation) equipment (ACET) segment “to increase productivity and thus cost efficiency.”

The solventborne DTM coatings available in the global market today, he said, have failed to meet the needs of ACET users because the products “lack in corrosion and humidity resistance.”

He said the global market for solventborne DTM coatings is currently being driven by the demand for high performance solutions that offer characteristics such as corrosion resistance, enable multiple application methods (airless, airmix), make it possible for different drying methods (air drying, stoving for 20 minutes@ 60°C), enable long pot life/open time and short drying time, use of same technology for new build and refinish, increasing use of different object parts on equipment which require different gloss and corrosion resistance and the multi-surface nature of the equipment such as cold/hot rolled steel, galvanised steel, aluminium and plastic.

The market is also getting influenced by regulatory compliance such as those for volatile organic compounds (VOC) and Dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTL), a catalyst used to accelerate the curing reaction of polyurethanes.

Diels said coatings users in ACET sector are keen on DTM solvents that boost productivity through reduction of drying time and stoving temperature.
The Congress presentations delved deep into how technology and discovery of new raw material qualities are boosting the coatings industry achieve the highest quality at a low cost and convenience to customers.