MUENSTER, Germany – BASF’s Coatings division has received ArcelorMittal’s Paint Supplier Innovation Award 2016 in the Aesthetics category. BASF and ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel producer, have collaboratively developed a new mat topcoat for use in the household appliance industry. This is following the trend toward mat surfaces that has already become established in the automotive sector in recent years.

“We are very proud that our customer ArcelorMittal has honored us with this award,” said Jan Baumgartner, Vice President Industrial Coatings Solutions Europe, who accepted the prize. “Our goal was to fulfill our customer’s wishes and to join forces to develop a product that fits the requirements precisely. It seems that we succeeded in meeting this goal, and that makes us very happy.”

The mat topcoat is applied to steel panels with the coil coating method. The company plans to use the topcoat to further strengthen its position as the market leader for coil-coated steel for domestic appliances.