IEN (Industrial Equipment News) is the leading resource for industrial professionals, providing product technology, trends and solutions impacting the industrial market. IEN reaches manufacturers, designers, distributors & supply chain professionals.
Issue link: http://ien.epubxp.com/i/643812
SUPPLEMENT to ien FINISHING WORLD 20 IEN / FEB '16 www.ien.com TOLBER GOES GREEN LACQUERS Miccroshield • Miccrostop • Miccromask • Miccropeel • Miccrotex XP-2000 TAPES & WAXES Miccrotape 3/4" • Miccrotape 1210 • Miccrotape 1220 • Miccrowax VINYL PLASTISOLS Black • Green • Orange Miccro products are designed for use in a wide range of plating applications. Such applications include Nickel, Electroless Nickel, Anodizing, Bright Chrome, Hard Chrome, Chemical Milling, Gold, Silver, Zinc, and most acid and alkaline cycles. The Tolber Division supplies a well-established line of plastisols, rack coatings, vinyl tapes, and waxes to serve most plating requirements. Tolber Divi- sion also supplies strippers/reducers for each of its masking products. On the continuous journey to masking perfection, make Tolber Division the last "stop-off" of the day. Vinyl Pastisols Stop-Off Lacquers Tapes & Waxes Strippers & Reducers Tolber Division 220 West 5th Street • Hope, Arkansas 870-777-3251 • Fax: 870-777-8056 www.tolber.com E-mail: tolbermail@sbcglobal.net MICCRO PRODUCTS 2015: A Record-Break- ing Year for Auto Sector Paint and Coatings Players Look Ahead to 2016 China Takes New Approach to Managing Metal U.S. Cutting Tool Consumption Falls In 2009, 10.4 million new vehicles were sold in the U.S. After adjusting for popula- tion, it was the lowest level since the ear- ly 1940s. In contrast, 2015 recorded the most ever car sales in American history, and in many ways 2015 may have been the auto industry's best year ever. For ex- ample: • Reuters estimates that the fi nal tally will be 17.5 million to 18 million cars sold in 2015, ahead of the previous high of 17.35 million in 2000. • The average price paid for a new car crept higher, due in some part to cheaper gas prices. Kelley Blue Book noted that average April 2015 transaction prices hit $33,560, a 2.6 percent increase over the same month the year before. The average transaction price then reached a re- cord high in December of $34,428, thanks partly to the increase in year- end luxury vehicle purchases. • Through the fi rst 11 months of 2015, light-duty truck sales were up 12.5 percent, according to Motor Intelli- gence, while the crossover, mid-size and luxury SUV categories were all up 15 percent or more. The painting and coatings sector could be an interesting one in 2016 – in large part because there is a signifi cant amount of differentiation between many of the leading com- panies. • Sherwin-Williams is tied closely to U.S. housing. For example, the company gen- erated 72 percent of its segmental profi t (before administrative costs) from its Paint Stores Group in the fi rst nine months of 2015. • In contrast, PPG Industries is more of a global player on a few key industries, most notably construction and automotive. U.S. construction looks like a good place to be in 2016 and the global automotive industry remains in good shape. However, 50 percent of its coatings revenue comes from the original equipment manufacturer marketplace, giving it signifi cant cyclical exposure. • Valspar generates around 57 percent of its revenue from coatings and around 38 percent from paints. Valspar is interesting because of its relatively high packaging ex- posure – a safer industry that makes up nearly 20 percent of total company revenue. A quick look at its full-year earnings reveals fl at sales for packaging, but General In- dustrial sales rose by mid-single digits. However, this kind of growth is not expected to continue. • RPM International is the smallest but most interesting company on the list. Gener- ating 70 percent of its 2015 revenue from repairs and maintenance means it's less cyclically exposed. It's also primarily a U.S. company, with around 70 percent of its revenue coming domestically. The company recently reported a solid set of quarterly results, with management forecasting growth in all three segments for the remainder of its fi scal year. As the world's largest producer of aluminum and steel, and the biggest consumer of copper and iron ore, China is crucial to global metals markets. China's recent slowdown has impacted revenue at global miners such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, and the mar- ket is keen to know what China plans for its state-run mining and metals giants — many of which have kept producing even as prices drop below the cost of production. Beijing looks ready to take a direct approach to managing capacity cuts and layoffs in coal and steel. It will provide smaller-scale fi nancing deals to groups of producers of non-ferrous metals, such as aluminum, for stockpiling and capacity cutback initiatives. China will also be allocating 30 billion yuan ($4.56 billion) over the next three years to support the closure of small and ineffi cient coal mines, and re-deploy nearly one million workers. Similar measures are expected to be unveiled for the steel sector. Additionally, a half-dozen aluminum producers have agreed to set up a new company to handle a proposed stockpiling scheme and to coordinate and monitor production lev- els. Similar initiatives are being considered by zinc and copper producers. U.S. manufacturers consumed $153.7 million worth of cutting tools during November 2015, a decline of 13 percent from the October fi gure, and down 11.3 percent from the November 2014 total. Through 11 months, U.S. manufac- turers' cutting-tools purchases are down 4.1 percent com- pared to the January – November 2014 total. The fi gures are drawn from the monthly Cutting Tool Market Report (CTMR), jointly issued by the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT - the Association for Manufacturing Technology.