LONDON – IRL has announced the availability of a new edition of its title, A Profile of the Russian Paint Industry. The profile now contains data for 2009.

The study points to Russia having a decorative paint market of 800,000 tonnes and an industrial coatings market of 510,000 tonnes. Future growth in the decorative sector will arise from general economic development and spending power. The industrial coatings sector will be busy recouping lost ground from 2009, which has hit the automotive and powder coatings sectors in particular.

There is a rising awareness in Russia of environmental, health and lifestyle factors. This awareness is contributing to an upsurge in the market for low-VOC paints. Throughout 2009, there has been more emphasis on low-quality paint and coatings, including the emergence of a super-economy sub-segment, which is likely to disappear as the decorative market picks up again.

One of the key long-term drivers for the Russian coatings market will be the arrival of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in 2014. Construction and protective coatings demand associated with the structures for this event will be a strong point for the paint industry.

IRL forecasts that the total Russian paint market should rise from a total of 1,310,000 tonnes in 2009 to 1,687,000 tonnes in 2014.