In 2021, 1,585 thousand tons of coatings, paints and printing inks were sold in Germany - a decrease of 5 percent compared to the previous year. In the current year, there is likely to be a slight increase of 1 percent, reported Peter Jansen at the virtual annual business conference of the German Coatings and Printing Inks Industry Association. (VdL). Sales in the industry in 2021 increased by 0.8 percent compared to the previous year. In the current year, VdL expects an increase of 5 percent to a good €5.85 billion.
In addition to record prices on the raw materials market and a strong dollar, disrupted supply chains, production downtime for pigments and epoxy resins, and a lack of transport capacity are hampering the market. "At the anticipated end of the acute Covid 19 pandemic, it can probably be said that the paint industry got off lightly and was even able to decouple itself in part from the negative overall development," summarizes association president Peter Jansen. This is also thanks to prudent management and an enormous willingness to perform on the part of the workforce in this medium-sized industry.