Charles W. Thurston, Latin America Correspondent05.10.19
The largest paint producer in Guatemala, Grupo Solid, has formed a strategic partnership with the Netherlands’ Transocean Coatings to pursue a spot in the high-performance paint and coatings market in the Central America and Caribbean regions. Solid will utilize its Superbia factory in Escuintla to manufacture the coatings.
The partnership will strengthen Transocean’s regional presence with nearly a dozen country offices, complementing its broader presence in South America, including offices in Argentina, Chile and Paraguay. Transocean Coatings is active in the manufacture and supply of antifoulings, anticorrosives and other coatings for ships, offshore installations, industrial facilities and pleasure crafts, the company said.
The commercialization of the Transocean products will be carried out through Solid’s sales representative Sytec, throughout the region, as well as by Modelo in Nicaragua and Paleta in Guatemala, the company said. The region is said to consume about 40 million gallons of paint a year, worth more than $150 million, according to the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData.
“Solid Group thanks Transocean for the trust placed in it to be a strategic ally in Central America and the Caribbean,” said Ariel Koll, president of Grupo Solid in a statement.
The Superbia plant now has a production capacity of 26 million gallons per year, which doubled capacity in 2011, thanks to a $10 million loan from the International Finance Corp. for the $18 million plant. The plant is equipped to manufacture industrial and automotive paints, resins and aerosols. The facility also includes research and development laboratories, a pulp plant for gypsum board, storage tanks and silos.
In January, the Superbia plant gained ISO 9001:2015 certification for the guarantee of quality products. Solid has a broad brand portfolio of paint and coatings including the Paleta, Corona, Modelo and Sytec brands.
Solid addresses the Business to Business (B2B) segment through its Sytec Business Unit, supplying architectural and industrial clients’ needs. Turnkey projects are managed through Solid’s Tekno Business Unit, with certified painters and Quality Control Systems for customer paint programs.
“We have quality certification, formulations, products and technology to produce Transocean products and offer ad hoc solutions for our customers with a global guarantee, but with local logistics times and competitive costs,” Juan Diego Toriello, the director of Sytec Regional, said in a statement.
Regional Paint & Coatings Trade Rising
In the first half of 2018, trade in paints and lacquers between countries in the Central America region totaled $59 million, of which 76 percent was sold by companies in Costa Rica and El Salvador, according to the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData.
Part of the lift is attributable to the strong growth of the maritime industry in the region. Container throughput in ports of Latin America and the Caribbean increased by 7.7 percent in 2018 in comparison with the previous year, according to data released in April by the United Nation’s Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean, ECLAC. This analysis is based on the performance of a sampling of 31 countries and 118 ports and port areas in the region.
“The Caribbean showed 12 percent growth in total maritime trade throughput, while Central America (without Mexico) had more subtle growth of seven percent only on the West Coast since the East Coast essentially maintained the same activity levels as in 2017,” ECLAC said. “Panama, meanwhile, experienced growth on its Caribbean coast of 11 percent with regard to the country’s total throughput, while its Pacific coast registered a decline of -16 percent,” the organization said.
The port of Colón (MIT, Evergreen, Panama Port), which notched just over 4,324,000 TEU last year, experienced the largest movement of freight in the Americas, ECLAC said.
According to the report, called “port ranking” in prior years, “the data largely maintained the heterogeneity seen in throughput behavior in previous periods, both in reference to ports and countries. Of the total sample, 66 ports and port areas saw their figures improve versus 2017. The total volume of activity in 2018 exceeded 53.2 million 20-foot equivalent container units, or TEU, which represents 7.1 percent of global throughput, marking a slight increase in the rate versus the previous year, when it amounted to 6.6 percent of global throughput, according to ECLAC.
Macro Factors Strengthen in Central America & Caribbean
The timing of the strategic partnership bodes well for increased sales thanks to stronger macro indicators. Fitch Ratings Macro Research in April said, “Central America and the Caribbean will experience a steady expansion, supported by remittance inflows and tourism from developed markets,” in the report.
“Growth in Central America will continue to benefit from positive spill-over from U.S. economic strength, with the exception of Nicaragua. Economic activity will likely be the strongest in Guatemala, Honduras and Panama,” Fitch analysts said.
“We expect Guatemala and Honduras to grow by 3.2 percent and 3.9 percent (this year), respectively. Activity will be driven by and remittances inflow from the U.S., with the latter supporting household incomes. Panama will continue to rank among the best performing economies in the broader Americas region, with a rebounding construction industry propelling growth to 5.5 percent,” Fitch said.
In the Caribbean, Fitch said, “We expect growth to show modest improvement, averaging 3.9 percent in 2019. We forecast growth to return to Anguilla, Barbados, and Dominica after all three experienced contractions in 2018 due to hurricanes in Anguilla and Dominica and a debt crisis in Barbados.”
The IMF also reported in April that Guatemala has been preparing documentation to be ready to come to the international bond markets for the first time in several years. “It is something we are considering and we are ready to do it and will finish analyzing whether the market will give us some space,” Victor Martinez Ruiz, the country’s finance minister said at a recent IMF meeting.
Any deal will probably have a minimum size of $500 million – but could go up to $1 billion – and will be part of a financing strategy that includes local currency and multilateral debt, the agency reported.
South America Partnership in Chile
In South America, Eecol Electric, a part of Wesco recently selected Transocean Coatings for high-performance coatings solutions to protect the electric modules it produces, which are exposed to the desert climate in Chile in the mining sector, among other ecosystems. Transocean products in Chile are manufactured and marketed by Pinturas Delfin.
Transocean is a global association of independent paint manufacturers that develops, manufactures and markets high-performance paint such as epoxies, vinyl, antifoulants, anticorrosives and polyurethanes for the industrial segment. The company produces additional coatings for boats, yachts, marine installations, among other markets.
The partnership will strengthen Transocean’s regional presence with nearly a dozen country offices, complementing its broader presence in South America, including offices in Argentina, Chile and Paraguay. Transocean Coatings is active in the manufacture and supply of antifoulings, anticorrosives and other coatings for ships, offshore installations, industrial facilities and pleasure crafts, the company said.
The commercialization of the Transocean products will be carried out through Solid’s sales representative Sytec, throughout the region, as well as by Modelo in Nicaragua and Paleta in Guatemala, the company said. The region is said to consume about 40 million gallons of paint a year, worth more than $150 million, according to the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData.
“Solid Group thanks Transocean for the trust placed in it to be a strategic ally in Central America and the Caribbean,” said Ariel Koll, president of Grupo Solid in a statement.
The Superbia plant now has a production capacity of 26 million gallons per year, which doubled capacity in 2011, thanks to a $10 million loan from the International Finance Corp. for the $18 million plant. The plant is equipped to manufacture industrial and automotive paints, resins and aerosols. The facility also includes research and development laboratories, a pulp plant for gypsum board, storage tanks and silos.
In January, the Superbia plant gained ISO 9001:2015 certification for the guarantee of quality products. Solid has a broad brand portfolio of paint and coatings including the Paleta, Corona, Modelo and Sytec brands.
Solid addresses the Business to Business (B2B) segment through its Sytec Business Unit, supplying architectural and industrial clients’ needs. Turnkey projects are managed through Solid’s Tekno Business Unit, with certified painters and Quality Control Systems for customer paint programs.
“We have quality certification, formulations, products and technology to produce Transocean products and offer ad hoc solutions for our customers with a global guarantee, but with local logistics times and competitive costs,” Juan Diego Toriello, the director of Sytec Regional, said in a statement.
Regional Paint & Coatings Trade Rising
In the first half of 2018, trade in paints and lacquers between countries in the Central America region totaled $59 million, of which 76 percent was sold by companies in Costa Rica and El Salvador, according to the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData.
Part of the lift is attributable to the strong growth of the maritime industry in the region. Container throughput in ports of Latin America and the Caribbean increased by 7.7 percent in 2018 in comparison with the previous year, according to data released in April by the United Nation’s Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean, ECLAC. This analysis is based on the performance of a sampling of 31 countries and 118 ports and port areas in the region.
“The Caribbean showed 12 percent growth in total maritime trade throughput, while Central America (without Mexico) had more subtle growth of seven percent only on the West Coast since the East Coast essentially maintained the same activity levels as in 2017,” ECLAC said. “Panama, meanwhile, experienced growth on its Caribbean coast of 11 percent with regard to the country’s total throughput, while its Pacific coast registered a decline of -16 percent,” the organization said.
The port of Colón (MIT, Evergreen, Panama Port), which notched just over 4,324,000 TEU last year, experienced the largest movement of freight in the Americas, ECLAC said.
According to the report, called “port ranking” in prior years, “the data largely maintained the heterogeneity seen in throughput behavior in previous periods, both in reference to ports and countries. Of the total sample, 66 ports and port areas saw their figures improve versus 2017. The total volume of activity in 2018 exceeded 53.2 million 20-foot equivalent container units, or TEU, which represents 7.1 percent of global throughput, marking a slight increase in the rate versus the previous year, when it amounted to 6.6 percent of global throughput, according to ECLAC.
Macro Factors Strengthen in Central America & Caribbean
The timing of the strategic partnership bodes well for increased sales thanks to stronger macro indicators. Fitch Ratings Macro Research in April said, “Central America and the Caribbean will experience a steady expansion, supported by remittance inflows and tourism from developed markets,” in the report.
“Growth in Central America will continue to benefit from positive spill-over from U.S. economic strength, with the exception of Nicaragua. Economic activity will likely be the strongest in Guatemala, Honduras and Panama,” Fitch analysts said.
“We expect Guatemala and Honduras to grow by 3.2 percent and 3.9 percent (this year), respectively. Activity will be driven by and remittances inflow from the U.S., with the latter supporting household incomes. Panama will continue to rank among the best performing economies in the broader Americas region, with a rebounding construction industry propelling growth to 5.5 percent,” Fitch said.
In the Caribbean, Fitch said, “We expect growth to show modest improvement, averaging 3.9 percent in 2019. We forecast growth to return to Anguilla, Barbados, and Dominica after all three experienced contractions in 2018 due to hurricanes in Anguilla and Dominica and a debt crisis in Barbados.”
The IMF also reported in April that Guatemala has been preparing documentation to be ready to come to the international bond markets for the first time in several years. “It is something we are considering and we are ready to do it and will finish analyzing whether the market will give us some space,” Victor Martinez Ruiz, the country’s finance minister said at a recent IMF meeting.
Any deal will probably have a minimum size of $500 million – but could go up to $1 billion – and will be part of a financing strategy that includes local currency and multilateral debt, the agency reported.
South America Partnership in Chile
In South America, Eecol Electric, a part of Wesco recently selected Transocean Coatings for high-performance coatings solutions to protect the electric modules it produces, which are exposed to the desert climate in Chile in the mining sector, among other ecosystems. Transocean products in Chile are manufactured and marketed by Pinturas Delfin.
Transocean is a global association of independent paint manufacturers that develops, manufactures and markets high-performance paint such as epoxies, vinyl, antifoulants, anticorrosives and polyurethanes for the industrial segment. The company produces additional coatings for boats, yachts, marine installations, among other markets.
