CRR slashed by RBI, holds interest rates: Industry View
MUMBAI: Reserve Bank of India left interest rates on hold on Tuesday but cut the cash reserve ratio for banks by 50 basis points, a move that eases tight liquidity in the banking system and underscores a policy shift from fighting inflation to reviving growth.

Following are views of industry officials after the RBI statement:
H M BHARUKA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, KANSAI NEROLAC "There is no need to reduce rates in a hurry and what the Reserve Bank has done is right. There needs to be clear signals from the economy, and it is only right for them to wait. The housing industry, which has been asking for a cut has not reduced prices. The fund flow to the housing sector has to be controlled as that has pushed up inflation to these high levels.

The CRR cut is something we are not sure about as additional liquidity in the system could be more inflationary. We are hopeful that the two pauses have been good and from March the industry is expecting a rate cut to boost growth." <more>

Kansai Nerolac Q3 net up 26 % at Rs 52 Cr
Kansai Nerolac Paints said today its net profit rose by 26.66 %for the third Quarter ended December

Asian Paints Limited
Asian Paints said due to the severe cyclonic storm 'Thane' in Tamil Nadu, some equipment and materials at the Company's Penterythritol Plant, Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu have been damaged. The damage is being assessed by the company and the operations at the Cuddalore Plant have been temporarily suspended. All equipment and materials have been fully insured by the company and the above will have no impact on the manufacturing of paints by the company. <more>

Asian Paints Consolidated Net Sales for the Quarter increases by 22%
Mumbai, January 21, 2012: Asian Paints Ltd today announced their financial results for the quarter and Nine months ended December 31, 2011.
"We witnessed good demand for Decorative Coatings business across the country. However, inflation and falling rupee has affected material prices, thus impacting margins" said P M Murty, Managing Director & CEO, Asian Paints Limited.
"Industrial business, including Auto continued to face challenging conditions. Political events and macro economic uncertainty in some countries continue to affect international performance though South Asia has done well." He added.<more>

Asian Paints - Restart the Company’s Pentaerythritol Plant, Cuddalore at Tamil Nadu
With reference to the earlier announcement dated December 30, 2011 regarding Temporarily Suspension of Operations of the Company at the Cuddalore Plant, Asian Paints Ltd has now informed BSE that the production at the Company’s Pentaerythritol Plant, Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu has been restarted.

The repair and reconstruction work to set right the damage caused at the plant is in progress and the same is not expected to hamper production. <more>

Berger Galaxy paints relaunched
KATHMANDU: Berger (J&N) Nepal re-launched Berger Galaxy, an innovative glow in the dark paint in a do-it-yourself kit in the market.

The Galaxy pack contains a 25gm container of the glowing pigment, a 75gm container of the paint binding agent, 23 stencils of various shapes and a brush, it said, adding that one can paint night sky with its glowing attractions of the moon, stars, spaceships and whatever over the ceiling.

The product is so designed that any layman could prepare it and paint his imagination to turn bedtime into funtime for the children, the company claimed. “Or for any painting assistance one can call a toll free number.”
The paint is also eco-friendly.<more>

IIP Number going up !
“If IIP numbers continue to go up consistently, one could say the economy was on a recovery path. I doubt that RBI will begin reducing rate immediately,” said H M Bharuka, managing director, Kansai Nerolac Paints.

India Inc & analysts say things could be tougher after Dec. The jump in November’s Index of Industrial Production (IIP) from minus 4.9 to 5.7 was a big relief, but both industrialists and analysts are unsure if the good run would continue.

While some industrialists were quick to nudge the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut rates, most doubted whether it would happen as soon as January 24 (when the central bank announces its next quarterly review of monetary policy).
Venugopal Dhoot, chairman & managing director, Videocon Industries, said, “This is the time to act. The IIP numbers will keep going up from here, while inflation will come down further. If RBI does not act now, it is an opportunity wasted.” <more>

John Deere to invest $80 m in Dewas tractor unit
INDORE, JAN. 13:
John Deere will set up its new manufacturing facility in Madhya Pradesh near Dewas. The company will be investing $80 million on its Dewas facility and would create 1,000 jobs, the majority of which would be given to local people. The ground breaking ceremony for its new tractor factory was held at its plant site near Dewas on Thursday with the State Industry and Commerce Minister, Mr Kailash Vijayverigya, and other officials of the company formally laying the foundation stone.
Mr Ranjeet Nair, Managing Director and CEO, John Deere, India, said the annual production capacity of the Dewas facility would be 49,000 tractors and its commercial production is likely to begin from 2013. Mr Nair said the reason why the company chose Dewas near Indore for the manufacturing of its tractor, was due to its strategic location and being nearest to Indore, Madhya Pradesh's largest city, which will provide a large pool of trained persons due to the large number of engineering and other technical institutions in the region. <more>

CES 2012: Nanocoat to fight germs
A typical computer peripheral is said to have 400 times more bacteria than a toilet seat. However, last week, at the Consumer Electronics Show, XTIO2 introduced XTI-Mobile nanocoating, the most powerful personal protection against germs on hand-held devices, tablets and laptops.

Typical consumer electronic products like phone, keyboard and mouse have 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat according to a study done by Chuck Gerba, a professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona, and a remote control at home has nearly as much bacteria as a toilet’s flush handle.

Dr. Birgit Winther at the University of Virginia found that cold viruses stay alive on remote controls and telephones for up to 18 hours. “Surfaces are far more important than we ever imagined in the spread of colds,” said Winther. Common cold is the world’s most prevalent illness without cure. It sends Americans to the doctor 100 million times yearly and costs $40 to 60 billion.

The world-exclusive XTI-Mobile Active-Shield nanocoating destroys cold viruses, dangerous E.coli and MRSA bacteria and other germs transmitted via frequently touched devices with the world’s highest germ-killing power of 99.999% proven by SGS tests on coated materials (ceramic, ABS-plastic and fabrics). The binderless XTI-solution includes only ultra-pure water (99.5%) and titanium-dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles making it GREEN and SAFE for consumers. <more>

PPG electrocoat primer to optimise corrosion protection
PPG Industries has developed a water-based corrosion protection primer that is applied to aircraft metal parts using an electrocoating dipping process, eliminating the waste and environmental concerns linked to sprayed primers.
Kevin Brooks, global segment manager for OEM coatings at PPG, said priming today is done by workers with spray guns in paint booths, where only about 25% of the paint ends up on the part, leading to inefficient use of primer and environmental concerns with workers breathing the airborne chemicals used in the primer. <more>

Bayer building new coatings plant
Bayer MaterialScience has started the construction of a new Euri 35 million multi-purpose plant for the raw materials for polyurethane coating at Chempark Leverkusen in Germany.
Hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) and isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) are used primarily for the production of environmentally friendly automotive and industrial coatings for a wide range of products, including many durable nonwovens.
Growing concern about the environment and the challenges concering VOC legislation in many countries have resulted in a trend to the replacement of many solvent-based systems by water-based or high solid systems, Bayer says.<more>

CCP passes order in show-cause notices to 16 paint companies
ISLAMABAD - The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has passed an order in the show cause notices issued to 16 paint companies for violating Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010 that deals with deceptive marketing practices.
CCP had issued show cause notices to following paint companies for inserting tokens in paint packs falling in the decorative paints category for household purposes: M/s ICI Pakistan Ltd, M/s Nippon Paint Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd, M/s Kansai Paint (Pvt) Ltd, M/s Berger Paints Pakistan Ltd, M/s Brighto Paints (Pvt) Ltd, M/s Diamond Paint Industries (Pvt) Ltd, M/s Mansoor Paint Industries, M/s U.P Paint Industries (Pvt) Ltd, M/s Nelson Paint Industries, M/s Chawla Chemical and Metal Industries (Pvt) Ltd, M/s Brolac Paints (Pvt) Ltd, Karss Paints Industries (Pvt) Ltd, M/s Allied Paint Industries, M/s Sika Paint Industries (Pvt) Ltd, M/s Rafiq Polymer Industries and M/s Black Horse Paints. <more>

AkzoNobel's shareholders oppose move to hike foreign promoter stake
MUMBAI: A group of minority shareholders of AkzoNobel, including Asian Paints, have objected to a proposal under which the listed firm will absorb three unlisted group companies at a higher valuation, thereby increasing foreign promoter's share holding.
In a concerted move, the institutional investors such as ICICI Prudential, LIC, SBI Mutual Fund, Bajaj Allianz, among others, have informed AkzoNobel, (formerly ICI) about their discomfort over the valuation given to the three companies controlled by Akzo's foreign parent, though the listed firm has a market cap of over 2,000 crore and cash in hand of about 1,000 crore.<more>

Solar Paint Converts Light to Electricity
A paint containing titanium dioxide and semiconducting cadmium nanocrystals can convert sunlight to electricity. Christopher Intagliata reports

Instead of installing solar panels on your roof—how about just giving your house a new paint job? Of course you’d have to be sure to use solar paint. That’s what a group of Notre Dame researchers has created, detailing the recipe in the journal ACS Nano. [Matthew P. Genovese, Ian V. Lightcap, and Prashant V. Kamat, "Sun-Believable Solar Paint. a Transformative One-Step Approach for Designing Nanocrystalline Solar Cells"]
The paint contains nanoparticles of titanium dioxide—which gives whiteness to sunscreen and powdered sugar. The particles are coated with semiconducting cadmium nanocrystals, and mixed with water and alcohol, to create a golden yellow paste. The researchers dubbed the product “Sunbelievable.” They brushed it onto a conductive glass electrode, and attached that to a counter-electrode, to create a complete circuit.<more>

AkzoNobel to take 100 percent control of Metlac Group
AkzoNobel plans to strengthen its position in packaging coatings by exercising the right to buy the remaining shares of Metlac, an Italian based packaging coatings producer. Financial details were not disclosed.

AkzoNobel currently is a shareholder in the Packaging Coatings Metlac Group. This position was inherited from the acquisition of ICI in 2008. The deal underlines the company’s strong commitment to supporting the coatings and inks market for metal packaging by securing the future of a well recognized supplier. <more>

Research and Markets: 2011 Report on the $20 Billion US Paint & Coating Manufacturing Industry
The US paint and coatings manufacturing industry includes about 1,100 companies with combined annual sales of $20 billion. Large companies include Benjamin Moore, RPM International, Sherwin-Williams, Valspar, and divisions of DuPont and PPG. The industry is highly concentrated: the largest 50 companies account for about 80 percent of revenue.
The global coatings industry currently generates about $90 billion in annual revenue. By 2015, the global coatings market is expected to be valued at nearly $100 billion, according to Global Industry Analysts (GIA). The top paint and coating producing countries include the US, China, Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands. Outside the US, major companies include Akzo Nobel (the Netherlands), Nippon Paint (Japan), Hempel A/S (Denmark), and the coatings operations of BASF (Germany).<more>

Global Printing Inks Market to Reach US$18.2 Billion by 2017, According to New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global report on Printing Inks market. The global market for Printing Inks is projected to reach US$18.2 billion by the year 2017, driven by the mounting popularity of environment friendly inks, and incessant technology innovations that are opening up newer growth avenues including relatively new markets such as UV and ink jet inks. Radiation curing inks and energy-curable ink technology also offer numerous opportunities, thereby pepping up industry growth prospects.
Printing inks is an industry that embodies the strength of the global as well as regional economies. With high correlation to a country’s GDP, the printing inks industry is cyclical in nature, with economic ups and downs amplifying the demand patterns. The business of printing inks involves development of products as per application and customer needs. Partly dented by the recent global meltdown, and the soaring raw materials prices, the global printing inks industry is projected to grow moderately over the near term. The industry continues to face severe pricing pressures, arising from spiking raw material costs, a scenario that is expected to continue over the near future. The market is also witnessing a transition towards high-value digital and energy-cured inks. Packaging, commercial publishing/printing comprise the largest end-use industries in the printing inks market.<more>

A Measure Of Titanium Dioxide
Commercial Product Analysis: Because of TiO2’s high levels in candy, children ingest more of the whitener than adults
Candies contain high levels of the whitening compound titanium dioxide

Used mainly as a whitening agent, titanium dioxide is a common additive in foods, paints, and personal care products. But scientists know little about how much TiO2 appears in these products, and that lack of data hinders studies of the chemical’s potential health effects. Now researchers have conducted the first analytical study of TiO in U.S. commercial goods, finding some products that contained almost 10% titanium by weight (Environ. Sci. Technol., DOI: 10.1021/es204168d).
“Risk assessors need more data on titanium exposure in people,” says Paul Westerhoff, of Arizona State University, who led the study. “Our study aims to fill in the gaps.”<more>

Schools in poor areas get a lick of paint
A 200,000 yuan ($32,000) check donated by Nippon Paint to a Hope school in Southwest China's Sichuan province. The company, together with DuPont, initiated a three-year program in 2009 called Color, Way of Love, which has painted the walls of 111 Hope schools across the country. Chen Qing / for China Daily
BEIJING - For children in remote mountainous areas, colors proved to be a good way to ignite their hopes for the future.
Launched in 2009, the Color, Way of Love project was jointly initiated by Nippon Paint and DuPont with the aim of painting the walls of 100 Hope schools in three years.<more>