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Spiralling raw material prices see coatings costs hiked

Shipowners, desperate to clamp down on every cost, have been hit by an increased layout for coatings.

Over the last 12 months, the cost of raw materials used for manufacturing coatings have escalated significantly and affects the coatings industry worldwide. One of the sector’s lead suppliers Jotun has just increased prices for marine, protective and powder coatings.

Jotun pointed out in a release raw materials like epoxy, titanium dioxide and copper have increased by more than 20% over the last 12 months, while zinc metal prices have increased by more than 50% and polyester resins have increased substantially.

“We saw this trend and strived to avoid a situation where prices on our products should be affected. But when the costs of key components continue to increase significantly over time, it leaves us with no other option but to raise the prices on our affected products”, commented Geir Boe, group executive vice president at Jotun Performance Coatings.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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