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'Ninety-four could be a record year, believe it or not,' says Gerald Habib, president of Consultants Berkshire Group (Shokan, NY) and a constant student of the paints and coatings industry. [...]

The perennial market share slugfest between manufacturers in the $17-billion U.S. paints and coatings industry continues, and mass merchandisers such as Home Depot, Wal-Mart, and K-Mart are egging them on. [...]

While the paint industries of western Europe and North America are still struggling to come out of recession, those of Asia/Pacific continue to show steady growth--with no sign of slowing [...]

SHERWIN-WILLIAMS BUYS MIDWEST COMPANY Sherwin-Williams (SW) has acquired Mautz Paint (Milwaukee) for an undisclosed sum. Mautz says it put itself on the block because of 'pressure brought on by a [...]

But Some Price Increases Succeed THE IMPACT OF THE slowing economy, especially housing and automotive markets, has trickled down to resins makers. Demand for resins used in paints and coatings [...]

Special Effects Products Shine Nancy Seewald PIGMENTS producers say their sales are down by as much as 6%-10% from last year as the economy slows and consumer spending declines. Many [...]

Weatherproofing for Stormy Markets PAINTS AND COATINGS PRODUCERS say they are weathering an economic storm that has sent worldwide sales in their $60-billion industry plummeting and made price hikes difficult. [...]

KANSAI PAINT (Osaka) has cut its profits and sales forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2002, citing falling demand. The company expects net earnings of ¥3.8 billion ($31 [...]

EASTMAN CHEMICAL SAYS IT PLANS TO IDLE ITS COATINGS POLYMERS plant at Dusseldorf, Germany as part of an effort to consolidate its coatings products operations. The company says it has [...]

VALSPAR says its board has authorized the repurchase of up to 2 million shares, about 4% of its outstanding shares, during the next 12 [...]

PAINT MAKERS SAY THEY EXPECT LOWER EARNINGS IN THE WAKE OF the September 11 attacks on the U S Sherwin-Williams (SW) and Valspar have felt the impact in their latest [...]

BASF'S AUTOMOTIVE COATINGS PLANT AT BELVIDERE, NJ HAS JOINED EPA's National Environmental Performance Track program, an agency initiative that offers regulatory relief to facilities that exceed federal environmental standards. Facilities [...]

Nippon Paint (Osaka) is the latest leading Japanese company to issue a profits warning. The company cut its net profits forecast for its fiscal year ending March 31, 2002 by [...]

RPM says that its shareholders have approved the election of Robert L. Marejka to v.p. and CFO, and Dennis F. Finn to v.p./environmental and regulatory affairs. Matejka, formerly v.p. and [...]

NOF CORP. (Tokyo) has increased its stake in NOF Mas Chemical Industries (NCI), an organic peroxides joint venture, to 86%, by acquiring the 30% stake held by Sinar Mas Tunggal [...]

Akzo Nobel will close its decorative paints plant at Haltwhistle, U.K. in mid-2002, with the loss of 126 jobs. The company cites overcapacity and heavy competition in the paints market. [...]

Sherwin-Williams says it has reached a deal to manufacture and sell a new line of paints under the Martha Stewart Signature brand name nationwide. Terms of the deal were nor [...]

VALSPAR REPORTED FLAT NET INCOME OF $25.5 MILLION FOR ITS FISCAL third quarter, ended July 27, on sales up 41%, to $544.8 million. Valspar reported earnings per share of 51 [...]

Uralita (Madrid) has launched a previously announced public offer for the 50.3% stake in Energia e Industria Aragonesas (Madrid) that it does not own (CW, Aug. 1, p. 14). The [...]

BUILDING MATERIALS COMPANY URALITA (Madrid) plans to make a public offer for the 50.3% stake in Energia e Industria Aragonesas (Madrid) that it does not own. Uralita will offer nine [...]

RHODIA has appointed William Stewart global director of world class manufacturing and product stewardship/home, personal care, and industrial ingredients. ASHLAND has made appointments: Michael W. Swartzlander, v.p. and general manager/foundry [...]

Sigma-Aldrich says it has added a 5,000-gal reactor at St. Louis, doubling its capacity for aminoethanesulfonate and aminopropanesulfonare biological buffers * BASF has changed the name of its Mexican automotive [...]

Reichhold says it has appointed six executives to head its coatings business, which represents 24% of the company's $1.15 billion in sales. They are: Wolfgang Regele, v.p./global marketing and general [...]

Sherwin-Williams says it expects second-quarter earnings of 55 cts-60 cts/share, below analysts forecast of 62 cents/share, reported by First Call. The company cut its second-quarter forecast two months ago to [...]

Becker Industrial Coatings (BIC), a subsidiary of Wilhelm Becker (Hoganas, Sweden), has acquired the liquid and powder coatings businesses of Blancomme (Pont-de-Claix, France). Terms of the deal, which is retroactive [...]

Elementis says it has abandoned plans to seek a buyer after failing to secure 'an acceptable offer.' The company put itself up for sale at the end of last year [...]

Eastman Chemical says it will close coatings resins plants at Portland, OR and Philadelphia by the end of October, with the loss of 50 jobs. The units were obtained in [...]

Kemira says it merged its decorative paints businesses Tikkurila Paints and Alco-Beckers into a new company, Tikkurila Deco Group, effective April 2. The new company will be headed by Visa [...]

SIGMA COATINGS USA, a member of the SigmaKalon group of companies, generated $44 million of revenues in 2000. With global headquarters in the Netherlands, the worldwide SigmaKalon Group sold close [...]

Tikkurila, the paints and coatings subsidiary of Kemira, is negotiating to acquire Eastman Chemical's polyester and alkyd resins plant at Vantaa, Finland. The plant is located at Tikkurila's Vantaa production [...]

EXECUTIVES AT SEVERAL SPECIALTY chemical companies say business conditions will remain tough until the second half of the year. Specialty firms plan to tighten their belts on capital expenditures, lower [...]

VALSPAR filed a registration with the SEC last week to raise $600 million in common stock and warrants, debt securities, and debt warrants. The company says proceeds will be used [...]

DuPont has won an exclusive contract to supply Toyota's recently completed car plant at Valenciennes, France. DuPont will supply a complete range of automotive coatings and chemicals, including cathodic dip [...]

Paint maker Corimon (Caracas) will sell its 26% stake in ethylene oxide-ethylene glycol (EO-EG) producer Pralca as part of a corporate restructuring. State petrochemical company Pequiven (Caracas), owns 49% of [...]

A group of Ohio investors have purchased the assets of Harrison Paint (Canton, OH), a maker of paint, stains, and specialty coatings including Dutch Standard brands. The company distributes throughout [...]

VALSPAR IS THE LATEST PAINT COMPANY to report an earnings shortfall. Valspar says net income for its fiscal first quarter, ended January 26, was about $4.5 billion, down 61% from [...]

SHERWIN-WILLIAMS has appointed Robert A. Taylor as president of the chemical coatings business of its paint stores group. Taylor was most recently president and COO of Lilly Industries, which was [...]

Sherwin-Williams's (SW) fourth-quarter earnings fell 17.5%, to $46.2 million before a special charge for asset impairment, on flat sales of $1.15 billion. The company cited the slowing U.S. economy and [...]

Condea Servo (Piscataway, NJ) has named Fitz Chem (Elmhursr, IL) as its distributor of additives and driers for the paints and coatings industries in Northern [...]

VALSPAR HAS WARNED THAT EARNINGS FOR ITS FISCAL FIRST QUARTER ending January 26 will be 10 cts/share, well below First Call's (Boston) consensus estimate of 22 as/share. Valspar earned 26 [...]

VALSPAR has closed its $975-million purchase of Lilly Industries (CW, July 5/12, 1999, p. 17). Lilly will operate as a Valspar [...]

SICO (MONTREAL) AND CHEMCRAFT (Winston-Salem, NC) have agreed to exchange their respective wood and metal coatings business. SICO will acquire Chemcraft's industrial metal coatings business and a production plant at [...]

INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL COMPANIES' HAD bumpy profits in the third quarter, mainly as a result of escalating raw materials and energy costs, says S&P Compustat (Englewood, CO). Companies say they had [...]

Akzo Nobel is planning to buy paints wholesaler Vachon (Lyon, France), the largest independent wholesaler of Akzo's Sikkens range of decorative coatings and car refinishes in France. Family-owned Vachon had [...]

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY, the holding company run by financial investor Warren Buffett, has obtained clearance from the FTC and Canadian Competition Bureau to acquire paint maker Benjamin Moore (Montvale, NJ). Berkshire [...]

BASF HAS ANNOUNCED A ζ400-MILLION ($336 million) capital expenditure program for BASF Coatings (Munster, Germany) over the next five years that aims to lift sales up to 10%/year, from ζ2.2 [...]

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY, THE CONGLOMERATE RUN BY financial wizard Warren Buffert, has agreed to acquire paint maker Benjamin Moore (Montvale, NJ) for about $1 billion. Berkshire will launch a cash tender [...]

PPG Industries and Valspar each have announced plans to repurchase up to 6% and 4.7%, respectively, of their outstanding shares. PPG's board has approved a purchase plan for up to [...]

Red Spot Paint & Varnish (Evansville, IN) has agreed to acquire the operating assets of Seibert-Oxidermo (Romulus, MI), a producer of primers for plastics and coatings for the transportation industry. [...]