The paint market - Italy

1.2 The global market is growing strongly

The global paint market has been growing steadily since ****, however, it suffered a sharp decline in **** due to the coronavirus pandemic. A slight recovery began in ****, and the value of the market is expected to soon exceed pre-pandemic levels.

Market value of the paint and coatings industry World, ****-****, in billions of USD Source: ****

The graph above shows the turnover of the paint market in the world. It can be seen that its value is several hundred billion, so very positive.

Paint and coatings market shares World, ****, in % Source: ****

The graph above shows, in percent, the market shares of the most competitive areas of the world. One can conclude on the importance of Asia Pacific on the value of world sales. This zone is also the one that is expected to grow at a higher CAGR, compared to the other continents over the period ****-****, being at * percent.

The CAGR of the other zones will be as follows:

Latin America: *.*% North America: *% Africa: *.*% Europe: *.*%

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1.3 Italian Paint Market

The Italian production of paints and related products is very important. In ****, the value of Italian paint sales was *.* billion euros.

Turnover of paint and varnish companies Italy, ****-****, in billion euros Source: ****

The graph above shows the turnover of paint for the last ** years, with Ateco Code ********. The value of the Italian paint market has remained more or less stable, with a slight change of less than * billion euros from **** to ****.

1.4 Trade flows generated by paint

Italy ranks fourth worldwide as paint exporter, after Germany, the United States and Japan. Exports value in **** amounted to *.* billion euros. As for imports, their value in **** was ***.* million euros.

Italian paint exports Italy, ****, in % Source: ****

Paint imports for Italy from the world Italy, ****, in % Source: ****

The two graphs above represent the main destinations of Italian exports, and the origins of imports. It can be seen that imports are mainly represented by Germany, and then followed by Spain and the United Kingdom. As for exports, there is no real country that dominates the Italian market, but rather several countries that hold a roughly equal share.

2.1 Construction sector is driving the paint market

Year **** closed with very encouraging data for the paint industry. In fact, the construction sector drove the post-coronavirus recovery, accounting for nearly ** percent of the entire sector. Positive signs were, in fact, emerging after several difficult years, in particular from the renovation sector, more than new construction, but also from the extraordinary maintenance of bridges and viaducts. [***]

There were *** *** construction companies in Italy in ****, that is why the paint industry's customer base is that broad.

To give an order of magnitude of the industry:

Production index in construction Italy, ****-****, Base ****=*** Source: ****

The graph above shows the construction production index with base ****=***. From the graph, it can be seen that the construction sector is increasingly dynamic, to such an extent that in **** it generated a turnover of **.** billion euros, so they are the most important customer base for the paint market.

Data published in **** show that Italians, after the coronavirus crisis, are increasingly willing to spend big amounts of money on renovations to their homes. In fact, according to Idealista, Italians are willing to spend *.* percent more than in other years. [***]

What's more, in **** and ****, and also in ****, Italian condominium owners have the opportunity to do renovation and energy improvement work ...

2.2 The Italian creative industry: the Visual Arts sector

The Visual Arts sector represents the first sector of the Italian Creative Industry in terms of number of employees. It generated, in ****, about **.* billion euros.[***]

This sector includes painters, sculptors, and artists. Nowadays, in Italy, this sector is not very large. The last publiished report regarding the Italian art sector was in ****, with Italia Creativa. The data in the report are no longer up to date, which is why they are not reported in this study.

Number of workers in the arts and creative sector Italy, ****-****, in whole numbers Source: ****

The graph above shows the number of artists in Italy according to the Istat database. The scope of the study is much broader and less specific, so it is more difficult to identify the exact number of painters. However, it is possible to say that there were at least **,*** painters in Italy in ****. The Ateco Code used is **.**.**, forartistic creators. Painters are part of the indicated code.

3.1 Companies in the industry

Paint companies in Italy have a production value of ***.** million in ****.

Italian paint and varnish production Italy, ****-****, in millions of euros Source: ****

The graph above represents the value of domestic paint production over the past decade. The figures show that production has never reached * billion in value, and that it is an unsteady market, with small constant changes between **** and ****.

In contrast, what has not grown for several years is the number of companies in the sector. In just four years, from **** to ****, there has been *** companies leaving the market. In **** the number of paint companies was ***.

Number of Italian companies in the painting industry Italy, ****-****, in whole numbers Source: ****

Distribution of employees in the painting sector Italy, ****, in whole numbers Source: ****

These two graphs show the specific trends in paint companies. As mentioned earlier, the number of companies in the sector is slowly decreasing each year. In terms of the industry's employees, on the other hand, they are mainly broken down into small and medium-sized companies with fewer than ** employees. In fact, large companies with more than *** employees are only **.

3.2 The legal form of companies in the industry

There are numerous companies in the paint and varnish industry in Italy, as seen in the previous part.

Number of companies producing paints, varnishes and similar coatings by legal form Italy, ****, in % Source: ****

The following graph shows the legal form of companies in the painting sector. We can see that most of the companies are S.r.l., limited liability companies. In fact, many companies are family-owned and family-run, such as the "Boero" group, an Italian company founded in **** that operates in the building, yachting and marine painting products sector. This company ended **** with a turnover of ** million euros, and during **** an alliance was signed with the Portuguese company Cin, which will bring the turnover of the two companies combined to more than *** million euros. Despite this sale to the Portuguese, the family that runs Boero has kept a very important market share.

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3.3 The domestic and international companies in the painting industry

World companies:

Market share of coatings and paint companies World, ****, in % Source: ****

This graph shows the market shares of the top global companies in the industry. It can be seen that there are few companies that have large market shares (***), so it is not a very centralized market.

European market:

Paint sales of major manufacturers Europe, ****, in millions of euros Source: ****

In Europe, it is the Dutch Akzo Nobel that dominates the European market. The top four companies shown in the graph are the top four in Europe by sales. Following in the chart are shown companies from Italian business partners (***) as a new partner of Italian Boero.

4.1 Prices charged on the Italian market

Production:

The Istat database provides prices for the production of paints and varnishes during the course of the year.

Paint, varnish manufacturing price index Italy, ****-****, Base ****=*** Source: ****

The graph above shows paint manufacturing prices in Italy, the measure used is base *** during year ****.

Retailing:

Consumer prices, on the other hand, can be looked up and compared on retailer websites, such as Leroy Merlin.

Source: ****

The table above shows some types of paints sold on the national market. So there are different types of products for each need, and there are also different sizes. Therefore, prices vary according to these two variables.

4.2 Classification of paints

Resin: also known under the name binder, is the most important element because as it dries it generates the protective and decorative film. It has a dual functionality: protection and adhesion. Alkyl resins-very bright, retains color, UV resistant Acrylic resins - excellent photochemical stability, chemical inertness and hydrolytic stability, resistant to temperature fluctuations, but poor adhesion capabilities Epoxy resins - curing ability, good adhesion, tendency to chalking and yellowing, insulating and anticorrosive properties Polyurethane resins - abrasion resistant, durable, retains color Vinyl (***) resins - resistant to chemicals and environmental degradation agents Amine resins - chemical resistant, color stability even at high temperatures Polyester resins - adherent, impact resistant, not too strong outdoors Solvent: is the part of the product that makes it fluid to facilitate application. It dissolves the resin. Filler: is an inert material used as a filler. It contains pigments and additives.

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4.3 Industry innovations: sustainability of paints

The topic of sustainability is also being discussed in the chemical industry and thus in the paint industry. Companies are increasingly developing products in line with ecology and that pay attention to the environment. IVM Group, an Italian company, invests * percent of its sales in research and development, and they have also recently commercialized a product called BioPaint. The latter consists of a ***% UV technology paint that contains **% raw materials from renewable sources and is of Voc, or volatile organic compounds, which are a cause of air pollution.

Another important quality of paints is their naturalness, so products should strive to maintain this aspect even once dried.

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5.1 National Regulations

In Italy, paint products follow specific legislation, Legislative Decree ***/****, implementing European Directive ****/**/EC, which imposed specific limits on the maximum volatile organic compound (***) content in products used in construction and bodywork.

Restrictions imposed by the REACH Regulation and the Biocides Regulation also have consequential impacts on the production and research and development activities of paint and varnish manufacturers who invest significant resources in formulating compliant products.

Requirements for paint applicators:

Those who work in the industry, namely paint applicators, have recently been regulated by a guideline. In fact, the "Applicator Training Guidelines: building paint products," set out the requirements for suitable training of employees. These figures must be sufficiently qualified and skilled in the application of paint.

The UNI ***** standard establishes the knowledge, skill and competence requirements related to the professional activity of the figure of the building painter; a decisive step to enhance and recognize the applicator of building paint products professional quality and dignity.

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6.1 Segmentation of actors

• Corporação Industrial do Norte (CIN)
• Akzo Nobel
• Axalta Coating Systems
• Cromology
• Beckers
• ONIP Omnium National Industriel des peintures