The French Paint, Ink, Glue and Adhesive and Resin Industry Weakened by Rising Costs

Since June, titanium dioxide of Chinese origin has been subject to unjustified provisional anti-dumping duties from the European Commission ranging from +14 to +39,7%. However, it is an essential element in the formulation of paints (55% of global production is allocated to it) and the European supply is insufficient.

The same applies to epoxy resins from Asia.

Furthermore, the eco-contribution of the DDS sector will experience an unprecedented increase of over 30% from January. In addition, the new contributions linked to the REP on industrial and commercial packaging waste (DEICS) and those of the construction sector (PMCB) will increase the costs of our companies.

These are also subject to a significant change in salary costs following the negotiations signed within the framework of our Collective Agreement.

In addition, regulatory pressure, particularly on industrial hygiene, requires investments and redirects up to 50% of R&D staff towards compliance adaptation at the expense of proactive innovation at a time when major investments are being made in China and the United States, encouraged by government support (IRA).

Finally, the effects of uncertainties, both political, in France and internationally, and geopolitical, are being seriously felt in the world of formulation chemistry. Since the end of the summer, some companies have been anticipating an economic slowdown and are already reducing their workforce.

For Jacques Menicucci, President of Fipec: "Today, with no prospect of improvement in the medium term, we are calling on all stakeholders in the chain to take responsibility in order to enable our common resilience. This listening to the sectors' call from Fipec will be decisive in ensuring the survival of the majority of our SMEs and ETIs and more generally of our production sites and distribution networks for our entire sector. This will be essential in contributing to the country's reindustrialization objectives and maintaining its employment."

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.