Kerry Pianoforte, Editor01.28.25
This month, Coatings World interviewed a number of key additives suppliers. They include Keith Condon, national sales director, and Mark Bitting, president and managing director, Gehring Montgomery; Rich Czarnecki, VP, Micro Powders, Inc.; John Kwasnecki, director of sales, Munzing; and Shichiu Kwan, product manager, Shamrock Technologies.
Coatings World (CW): How did the additives market fare in 2024?
Keith Condon, Gehring Montgomery: The U.S. coatings additives market is projected to grow from $8.72 billion in 2024 to $11.04 billion by 2029, signaling a bright future for us all. TER Chemicals – Gehring Montgomery had a record-breaking sales year in 2024. A significant driver of this success was the merger of Strohmeyer and Keim-Additec Surface USA into Gehring Montgomery, which allowed us to capture new market segments.
Our product portfolio expanded with premium offerings like Ceronas waxes from Germany, CHT high-performance water-based wax emulsions, silicone emulsions, hybrid emulsions, Kuraray MOWITAL PVB (polyvinyl butyral), high-molecular-weight PIB (polyisobutylene), polybutene, melamine amino resins, and graphene slurry and powder.
As the World of Wax experts, we supply PE, PP, water-based wax emulsions, carnauba, montan, paraffin, soy, rice bran, candelilla, and Fischer-Tropsch Vestowax products.
Rich Czarnecki, Micro Powders: For Micro Powders, 2024 was a year of robust sales growth as customers finished their 2023 destocking and returned to normal ordering patterns. We also enjoyed significant sales growth with several of our new PTFE-free products.
John Kwasneski, Munzing: 2024 was another year in which we monitored and adapted to regulatory changes which drove formulation changes in a wide variety of end markets. The industry also faces a growing shortage of skilled formulators. To address this, MUNZING has proactively built a large team of chemists with extensive experience in coatings formulations. Our technical service laboratory continues to differentiate MUNZING from our competition as our customers rely on us for help in solving formulation challenges, contributing to faster new product development and launch.
Shichiu Kwan, Shamrock Technologies: 2024 was overall a solid year for additives business. Major restrictions dictated by regulatory and safety compliance did not prove to be barriers, but rather main motivating factors for change and creativity that allowed for new generations of additives to be promoted and commercialized.
CW: What do you think will be the major issues impacting the additives market in 2025?
Condon, Gehring Montgomery: Potential tariffs could present challenges, but we are well-positioned to mitigate their impact. Most of our products are manufactured in the USA, Germany, Poland, Italy, and other European countries, many of which are not affected by current or anticipated tariffs. In addition, the value of the dollar compared to possible intrusion with the BRICS nations could affect the financial markets. We do not see disruption in securing raw materials for our finished products in 2025.
At Gehring Montgomery, we’ve proactively addressed supply chain challenges by streamlining processes, eliminating inefficiencies, and holding higher inventory levels. We’ve adopted data analytics to identify re-order notifications to our clients and negotiated better supplier terms to lower procurement expenses.
Our contingency plans are always robust, with alternate routes, transportation modes, and expedited logistics ready to go. This ensures we can continue to deliver for our customers without disruption. Gehring Montgomery has its own fleet of trucks as backup to any clients demand because of possible disruption with their own transportation.
Czarnecki, Micro Powders: For us, the major factor in 2025 will be the discontinuation of PTFE-based additive powders. Micro Powders will exit this market at the end of the year as will other wax additive suppliers. Fortunately, we have been extremely successful at converting many of our customers over to our PTFE replacement product offerings.
Kwasneski, Munzing: In 2025, the coatings additives market will continue to face many of the same challenges; stricter environmental rules, demand for sustainable and bio-based options, supply chain issues, raw material price volatility, the need for customized additives, and ongoing regulatory compliance hurdles. MUNZING has six manufacturing sites strategically located across the globe to effectively minimize many of the disruptions and costs associated with the challenges mentioned.
Kwan, Shamrock Technologies: Regulatory changes, tariff implementations, and supply chain disruptions are expected to remain significant obstacles for established suppliers while simultaneously creating opportunities for new suppliers to penetrate the market.
CW: Do you think the market will see improvement in 2025?
Condon, Gehring Montgomery: Absolutely! If energy costs decline under the new presidential administration, I foresee a stronger U.S. economy. Since 2020, the Consumer Price Index for household energy has risen by 29%, significantly impacting costs. A reduction in energy expenses could spark broader economic growth.
Looking at market trends, the coatings industry is expected to grow by 2.3% in 2025. Globally, the paints and coatings market, valued at $213.77 billion in 2024, is projected to reach $278.38 billion by 2030. We’re also witnessing a shift toward powder coatings, bio-coatings, and greener solutions as industries adapt to tighter regulatory requirements.
Czarnecki, Micro Powders: We are optimistic that 2025 will see a continued growth in our business, especially as we continue to qualify customers with our industry-leading portfolio of PTFE/PFAS free additive powders and dispersions.
Kwasneski, Munzing: There are continued concerns of rising interest rates, volatile raw material availability and prices along with growing regulatory challenges. However, as standards of living improve on a global basis, the coatings market generally grows above base GDP forecasts. MUNZING is ready to help our customers take advantage with our robust R&D strength in Abstatt, Germany and Bloomfield, NJ. Both are supported by six manufacturing sites all strategically located near major population centers.
Kwan, Shamrock Technologies: We expect increased clarity around tariffs and normalization of supply chain dynamics, which should contribute to overall market growth.
CW: What types of additives does your company manufacture?
Mark Bitting, Gehring Montgomery: We currently focus on distribution, warehousing, and delivery in the U.S. Our additives are used worldwide and have earned international acclaim for their quality and performance.
Czarnecki, Micro Powders: Micro Powders develops fine and coarse additive powders that improve surface durability, lubricity, gloss reduction, haptics and water repellency in paints, inks and industrial coatings. Many of our products are derived from natural materials that include carnauba wax, rice bran wax, and cellulose.
Kwasneski, Munzing: MUNZING formulates custom liquid and powder additives as well as specialty solid and emulsified waxes targeted at all types of coatings, adhesives, inks, and dry mix construction products. These additives help control and improve pigment dispersion, foaming, wetting, leveling, rheology, slip, surface texture, matting and numerous other specific performance demands.
Kwan, Shamrock Technologies: Shamrock Technologies is a leader in the development of advanced micronized polymer solutions, offering a diverse range of products, including micronized waxes and PTFE, available in forms such as emulsions, compounds, dispersions, and precision micronized powders. These high-performance additives are designed to enhance coating formulations across a wide array of attributes, including slip resistance, mar resistance, release properties, lubrication, matting, haptic effects, and beyond.
CW: What are the latest technologies being developed for use in paints and coatings?
Bitting, Gehring Montgomery: Gehring Montgomery, in collaboration with our key producers, is introducing several cutting-edge technologies tailored to the paints and coatings industry for 2025 and 2026.
Our latest initiatives include advancements in graphene technology and new synthetic and natural emulsions, which are undergoing trials with select clients. The early results and feedback have been overwhelmingly positive, showcasing exceptional performance compared to competitors.
We’re thrilled about the innovative developments on the horizon for 2025.
Czarnecki, Micro Powders: We continue to expand our PTFE replacement portfolio, where our unique technology combines hard, inert materials including aluminum oxide and ceramics with a range of wax materials. Our performance data for lubricity, scratch and abrasion resistance demonstrates that these products typically outperform classic PTFE composite wax technology, and often at a lower cost.
Kwasneski, Munzing: The bulk of our product development continues to focus on creating cleaner and greener products that can meet or exceed the performance of older, outdated additives that coatings producers no longer want or have been regulated out of approved use. We have a robust, new portfolio of additives that are based on bio-renewable raws, are PTFE-free, mineral oil-free and free of microplastics.
Kwan, Shamrock Technologies: Recent advancements in paint and coatings technologies include the development of sustainable and eco-friendly formulations, such as water-based coatings and PFAS-free alternatives. Innovations also focus on improving durability, with technologies aimed at enhancing scratch resistance, self-healing properties, and UV stability. These technologies not only improve the functionality of coatings but also support regulatory compliance and environmental sustainability. CW
Coatings World (CW): How did the additives market fare in 2024?
Keith Condon, Gehring Montgomery: The U.S. coatings additives market is projected to grow from $8.72 billion in 2024 to $11.04 billion by 2029, signaling a bright future for us all. TER Chemicals – Gehring Montgomery had a record-breaking sales year in 2024. A significant driver of this success was the merger of Strohmeyer and Keim-Additec Surface USA into Gehring Montgomery, which allowed us to capture new market segments.
Our product portfolio expanded with premium offerings like Ceronas waxes from Germany, CHT high-performance water-based wax emulsions, silicone emulsions, hybrid emulsions, Kuraray MOWITAL PVB (polyvinyl butyral), high-molecular-weight PIB (polyisobutylene), polybutene, melamine amino resins, and graphene slurry and powder.
As the World of Wax experts, we supply PE, PP, water-based wax emulsions, carnauba, montan, paraffin, soy, rice bran, candelilla, and Fischer-Tropsch Vestowax products.
Rich Czarnecki, Micro Powders: For Micro Powders, 2024 was a year of robust sales growth as customers finished their 2023 destocking and returned to normal ordering patterns. We also enjoyed significant sales growth with several of our new PTFE-free products.
John Kwasneski, Munzing: 2024 was another year in which we monitored and adapted to regulatory changes which drove formulation changes in a wide variety of end markets. The industry also faces a growing shortage of skilled formulators. To address this, MUNZING has proactively built a large team of chemists with extensive experience in coatings formulations. Our technical service laboratory continues to differentiate MUNZING from our competition as our customers rely on us for help in solving formulation challenges, contributing to faster new product development and launch.
Shichiu Kwan, Shamrock Technologies: 2024 was overall a solid year for additives business. Major restrictions dictated by regulatory and safety compliance did not prove to be barriers, but rather main motivating factors for change and creativity that allowed for new generations of additives to be promoted and commercialized.
CW: What do you think will be the major issues impacting the additives market in 2025?
Condon, Gehring Montgomery: Potential tariffs could present challenges, but we are well-positioned to mitigate their impact. Most of our products are manufactured in the USA, Germany, Poland, Italy, and other European countries, many of which are not affected by current or anticipated tariffs. In addition, the value of the dollar compared to possible intrusion with the BRICS nations could affect the financial markets. We do not see disruption in securing raw materials for our finished products in 2025.
At Gehring Montgomery, we’ve proactively addressed supply chain challenges by streamlining processes, eliminating inefficiencies, and holding higher inventory levels. We’ve adopted data analytics to identify re-order notifications to our clients and negotiated better supplier terms to lower procurement expenses.
Our contingency plans are always robust, with alternate routes, transportation modes, and expedited logistics ready to go. This ensures we can continue to deliver for our customers without disruption. Gehring Montgomery has its own fleet of trucks as backup to any clients demand because of possible disruption with their own transportation.
Czarnecki, Micro Powders: For us, the major factor in 2025 will be the discontinuation of PTFE-based additive powders. Micro Powders will exit this market at the end of the year as will other wax additive suppliers. Fortunately, we have been extremely successful at converting many of our customers over to our PTFE replacement product offerings.
Kwasneski, Munzing: In 2025, the coatings additives market will continue to face many of the same challenges; stricter environmental rules, demand for sustainable and bio-based options, supply chain issues, raw material price volatility, the need for customized additives, and ongoing regulatory compliance hurdles. MUNZING has six manufacturing sites strategically located across the globe to effectively minimize many of the disruptions and costs associated with the challenges mentioned.
Kwan, Shamrock Technologies: Regulatory changes, tariff implementations, and supply chain disruptions are expected to remain significant obstacles for established suppliers while simultaneously creating opportunities for new suppliers to penetrate the market.
CW: Do you think the market will see improvement in 2025?
Condon, Gehring Montgomery: Absolutely! If energy costs decline under the new presidential administration, I foresee a stronger U.S. economy. Since 2020, the Consumer Price Index for household energy has risen by 29%, significantly impacting costs. A reduction in energy expenses could spark broader economic growth.
Looking at market trends, the coatings industry is expected to grow by 2.3% in 2025. Globally, the paints and coatings market, valued at $213.77 billion in 2024, is projected to reach $278.38 billion by 2030. We’re also witnessing a shift toward powder coatings, bio-coatings, and greener solutions as industries adapt to tighter regulatory requirements.
Czarnecki, Micro Powders: We are optimistic that 2025 will see a continued growth in our business, especially as we continue to qualify customers with our industry-leading portfolio of PTFE/PFAS free additive powders and dispersions.
Kwasneski, Munzing: There are continued concerns of rising interest rates, volatile raw material availability and prices along with growing regulatory challenges. However, as standards of living improve on a global basis, the coatings market generally grows above base GDP forecasts. MUNZING is ready to help our customers take advantage with our robust R&D strength in Abstatt, Germany and Bloomfield, NJ. Both are supported by six manufacturing sites all strategically located near major population centers.
Kwan, Shamrock Technologies: We expect increased clarity around tariffs and normalization of supply chain dynamics, which should contribute to overall market growth.
CW: What types of additives does your company manufacture?
Mark Bitting, Gehring Montgomery: We currently focus on distribution, warehousing, and delivery in the U.S. Our additives are used worldwide and have earned international acclaim for their quality and performance.
Czarnecki, Micro Powders: Micro Powders develops fine and coarse additive powders that improve surface durability, lubricity, gloss reduction, haptics and water repellency in paints, inks and industrial coatings. Many of our products are derived from natural materials that include carnauba wax, rice bran wax, and cellulose.
Kwasneski, Munzing: MUNZING formulates custom liquid and powder additives as well as specialty solid and emulsified waxes targeted at all types of coatings, adhesives, inks, and dry mix construction products. These additives help control and improve pigment dispersion, foaming, wetting, leveling, rheology, slip, surface texture, matting and numerous other specific performance demands.
Kwan, Shamrock Technologies: Shamrock Technologies is a leader in the development of advanced micronized polymer solutions, offering a diverse range of products, including micronized waxes and PTFE, available in forms such as emulsions, compounds, dispersions, and precision micronized powders. These high-performance additives are designed to enhance coating formulations across a wide array of attributes, including slip resistance, mar resistance, release properties, lubrication, matting, haptic effects, and beyond.
CW: What are the latest technologies being developed for use in paints and coatings?
Bitting, Gehring Montgomery: Gehring Montgomery, in collaboration with our key producers, is introducing several cutting-edge technologies tailored to the paints and coatings industry for 2025 and 2026.
Our latest initiatives include advancements in graphene technology and new synthetic and natural emulsions, which are undergoing trials with select clients. The early results and feedback have been overwhelmingly positive, showcasing exceptional performance compared to competitors.
We’re thrilled about the innovative developments on the horizon for 2025.
Czarnecki, Micro Powders: We continue to expand our PTFE replacement portfolio, where our unique technology combines hard, inert materials including aluminum oxide and ceramics with a range of wax materials. Our performance data for lubricity, scratch and abrasion resistance demonstrates that these products typically outperform classic PTFE composite wax technology, and often at a lower cost.
Kwasneski, Munzing: The bulk of our product development continues to focus on creating cleaner and greener products that can meet or exceed the performance of older, outdated additives that coatings producers no longer want or have been regulated out of approved use. We have a robust, new portfolio of additives that are based on bio-renewable raws, are PTFE-free, mineral oil-free and free of microplastics.
Kwan, Shamrock Technologies: Recent advancements in paint and coatings technologies include the development of sustainable and eco-friendly formulations, such as water-based coatings and PFAS-free alternatives. Innovations also focus on improving durability, with technologies aimed at enhancing scratch resistance, self-healing properties, and UV stability. These technologies not only improve the functionality of coatings but also support regulatory compliance and environmental sustainability. CW
