New market study on pigments from Ceresana

Manufacturers and distributors of small, coloring particles can rejoice: the global demand for pigments is increasing. By far the most important sales market for the pigment industry is the paints and coatings application area, which currently consumes around 5 million tons of pigments per year. Around 2.5 million tons of this is accounted for by interior and facade paints for the construction industry alone. Pigments can take on different functions in coatings for industrial products: Decoration, protection against environmental influences, but also, for example, electrical insulation for electrical items or oxygen barriers for food packaging. There are major regional differences in the use of pigments, which is why the current market study by Ceresana examines the various application areas "paints and coatings", "plastics" and "printing inks" in detail, along with their respective submarkets and sub-segments.

The second largest application area for pigments is plastics. Around 1.4 million tons of pigments are used every year for rigid and flexible packaging alone. Pigments are also used for numerous industrial plastic products, for example for components in the automotive industry. This is followed by the application areas of building materials, printing inks and paper. In contrast, pigments are not used for coloring liquids, such as textiles or inks, but soluble dyes and colorants. Some natural dyes, for example from madder plants, scale insects or purple snails, can, however, be lacquered into pigments for paints. Organic paints and eco-paints use earth and mineral pigments, animal and plant dyes that are as non-toxic as possible, contain no heavy metals and do not emit radioactive radiation. Organic pigments can be partly produced from biogenic materials - but currently only have a small share of the global pigment market. The best-selling pigment types are inorganic pigments, primarily metal salts. Around 60% of total pigment demand is accounted for by the white pigment titanium dioxide (TiO2), which is mainly used for paints and coatings. The environmental and health effects of titanium dioxide are controversial; toxic dilute acid is produced during its manufacture. Iron oxide pigments, the most widely used inorganic colored pigments, come in second place. It is followed by carbon black: Carbon black is not only used as a filler for car tires and other rubber applications, but also as a black pigment. This lamp black is mainly used for printing inks, paints and inks, but also as UV protection for plastics.