CEO blog - Turbulent times continue to challenge the coatings industry

By Tom Bowtell, Chief Executive Officer of the BCF

At the turn of the year, there were whispers that the second half of 2022 would see some easing in the raw material crisis, and things would start to return to normal.  That was until 24th February, when Russia invaded Ukraine.

Clearly the most important concern is around the citizens of Ukraine, and their wellbeing. Our thoughts are with them all and we hope there is a quick resolution and an end to the conflict.

We are also following how continued hostilities will impact both the global economy and, closer to home, the coatings sector. Oil and gas prices have shot up again since the war started, and they were already reaching close to record highs. This significant increase in oil and energy prices will undoubtedly have a knock-on effect on both prices and raw material supply pressures. 

These additional burdens, faced both by consumers and industry, are something we have to accept as a consequence of standing united in the global community. I commend the BCF member companies who have stopped exporting to Russia, at a cost to their profitability but not their reputations.

Events in Ukraine have put sector issues into perspective, but our work has and will continue to support the future prosperity of the UK coatings sector.

I’m so impressed with how members have responded to all the challenges thrown at them in the last 12 months and despite the many difficulties of Brexit and Covid, they have continued to produce and deliver high quality paints, coatings, printing inks and wallcoverings for UK and export customers. 

The raw material crisis, which our industry has battled with throughout 2021 is not abating, and despite lower demand in some coatings segments, supply availability is still restricted, and prices are at an all-time high. We are now issuing updated raw material information notes for the printing ink and coatings sectors in April to inform and support BCF’s members.

At BCF we are making some headway on some big topics behind the scenes – thanks to our efforts, Defra have delayed UK REACH by two years and given us time to work with them on an alternative, more pragmatic model, and the Home Office are reviewing how the licencing arrangements will work on GBL and BDO following BCF’s interventions on behalf of printing ink members.  We are working on our decorative paint recycling programme (PaintCare) implementation plans ahead of May’s board meeting and starting to piece together the Net Zero Roadmap. 

I hope our efforts go some way to help our members through these turbulent and difficult times.