The future for paper chemicals ..... some views from suppliers, users and a consultant

Some leading suppliers, users and a consultant were asked for their views on the future of paper chemicals and an interesting summary is given in the Tappi Paper 360 article by Glen Ostle. Topics include:

• Investment in R&D - various figures are given for the percentage an total amounts that companies spend but in my experience there is not a common definition of R&D and companies like to bolster the figures by including all technically-related activities as R&D. R&D spending of 2.5-3% of sales is mentioned, but inreality the figure is probably closer to 2%.
  
• Market drivers - cost is always high on the list and with escalating energy, raw material, transport and regulatory costs, this is not surprising. Other drivers include, environmental issues such as sustainability, use of renewable resources and compliance with changing regulation. The increasing need for strength is mentioned, driven by fibre shortage (use of alternative fibres), recycling and the need to use less fibre (cost). Increased demand for water-treatment chemicals, especially in India and China. De-inking will increase and demand for innovation in this area will continue.
  
• Future product demands - new coating binders based on natural products/renewable resources (eg biopolymer latexes). Recyclable barrier coatings. Biotechnology will play an increasingly important role as will the environmental agenda.
  
• Industry consolidation - the paper chemical supply industry remains very fragmented and future consolidation is inevitable. The emergence of a few global leaders plus specialists in certain stand-alone segments is expected. Surprisingly, no mention is made of the rapid growth of quality manufacturers and suppliers from India and China, perhaps because there were no contributors with strong experience of the supply industry in these emerging markets (or they preferred to live in denial of the impact that not-traditional suppliers are having in the market).
  

The article is interesting and more a confirmation of grass-root thinking rather than offering any new ideas.

The views of people from the following companies are given: Nalco, Hercules Paper Technologies & Ventures, Minerals Technologies, Klass Associates, Kemira Pulp & Paper, Buckman Laboratories, Dow Chemicals, Omya and Cargill.