MAINZ, Germany — According to research by CHEM Research, a business-to-business market research and consulting organization focused on the paint and coatings, adhesives, and sealants industry, data show a recovery for the European paint and coatings production in May 2020, while production in Germany is close to the level reached in April.

The organization reports that in May 2020, paint and coatings production showed different growth patterns when comparing Germany with the EU27 economic area. The German production index rose to 81 points – a slight improvement. In contrast, the EU27 index rose to 87.9 points. However, for both indices this means a decline of about -15% from the previous year’s level.

The German Paint and Coating production index changed only slightly. Demand for industrial coatings continued to decline, due mainly to significant contraction in industrial output. On the other hand, the German decorative paint market continues to be sustained by strong DIY demand.

In many European countries, the lifting of the strict lockdown, including the opening of the DIY retail outlets, is helping to revive the market for decorative paints. This pattern takes after the German market development since the beginning of the year with only partial DIY retailing lockdown. From a European perspective, the recovery in the countries covered in the analysis is evolving in a similar way.

For June 2020 CHEM Research anticipates a further easing of the situation in Germany and in the EU27 area. The following production index projection is provided for the 2nd quarter of 2020.

• In Germany, the quarterly production index is projected to fall to 82.5 points in the second quarter of 2020, down 13.7 % from the previous year’s second quarter.
• For the EU27 area, CHEM Research projects a quarterly index of 84.4 points for the second quarter of 2020, which represents a year-on-year decline of 18.5 %.

CHEM Research is a longstanding partner of the Association of the German Paint and Printing Ink Industry (VdL) and issues reports on the development of the paint and coatings market in regular intervals.