U.S. Color Pigment Demand to Reach $3.8 Billion in 2011
Specialty
pigments, such as metallic and pearlescent types, will provide good
opportunities, with demand growing at an annual rate of 5.5 percent. Gains will
arise from increased requirements for unique and novel eye-catching optical
effects by manufacturers of products such as automotive coatings, printing
inks, plastics, cosmetics and toiletries.
Organic pigments will also experience encouraging growth, resulting from trends
toward more expensive, high-performance pigments and the continual displacement of heavy metal-based inorganic pigments such as
chromate. Organic pigments have a
superior environmental profile in comparison to inorganic pigments and provide
a wider range of bright colors that are particularly used in printing inks.