Akzo Nobel Chairman Says ‘Value Addition’ Holds Key to Industry Growth
BRUSSELS — Akzo Nobel Chairman Cees van Lede called on the coatings industry to do a better job of promoting the value added by coatings products in comments at the annual conference of CEPE – the European Council of the Paint, Printing Ink, and Artists’ Colours Industries.
Van Lede said coatings sales growth is limited in mature markets, but he said growth potential exists in developing markets, technology innovations, and “the added value with which we support our customers. We don’t just sell cans of paint, but we provide training, services, process and supply integration, and so on.”
Van Lede also said acquisition remains a growth option for companies in an industry still viewed as being highly fragmented. “We have the impression that consolidation in the industry is far advanced. However, if we look at the mergers and acquisitions of recent years, we find that this was primarily consolidation among the top 15 companies. In total, the number of coatings companies has not changed very much,” he said. Even with its rank as the top coatings producer worldwide, Akzo Nobel’s market share is a relatively modest 8%. “This means that the consolidation process has really just started,” he said.