Feature

Trends and Challenges in Indian Specialty Chemicals

Posted on 29 January, 2010 | Tags: Panorama

India is one of the world's most significant promising markets, where the magnitude of sustainability is treasured along with an immense empathy towards worldwide wellness inclination. Creating produce to meet these necessities devoid of conciliation on presentation gets complicated skill into the meadow of specialty chemicals.

-Satish Moorkath,  Guido Appl & Ashok Pol

Goods prepared by the chemical industry till date, have been less profoundly synchronized within India than in European case and presently no Asian body proposes ecological value seals or documentation.  Domestic patrons are gradually demanding "green" way out. Herein, free belief is forward of administration along with industry strategy. Accordingly, sales for the specialty chemicals segment are mounting very swiftly, obsessed as a result of insistence in favor of "green" high-performance products.
Brilliant impact of the Indian market to the company, Cognis established a liaison agency in Mumbai in 2008, with an associate within 2009. The affiliate has helped Cognis achieve a superior perceptive of the Indian market, enabled it to foresee expansion, and brought the company nearer toward its consumers. Cognis sales in India have consequently grown by 30 percent in 2008, as indicated by the outcome.

Coatings go "green" in India
The fashion towards environmentally resonance resolution in India is chiefly obvious in the souk pro coatings, while in Western nations, stern rules also prohibit on potentially unsafe material thrive; the Indian market is far less synchronized. Yet, still devoid of severe convention, to a greater extent clients are demanding sustainability from the yields that they utilize. Therefore, market privileged are gradually more requiring "green" defoamers, rheology modifiers, dispersing agents and coalescents.
Cognis supply this order for high-performance, environmentally sound coatings elements through products like Dehydran SE 1 and DSX 3291. Dehydran SE1 is a polymer emulsion defoamer for high-PVC water-based paints. It is trouble-free to handle, apposite to apply in every nature of paints, along with outstanding foam repression. Resultant as of renewable assets, it offers a substitute to mineral oil-based defoamers, is stink and VOC-free, moreover has an ultra-low content of semi-volatile organic compounds (S-VOCs). DSX 3291 is a pioneering associative thickener for "green" water-based coatings. This pseudoplastic viscosity builder is up to five times extra resourceful than conformist products. It is trouble-free to handle and can be included keen on coating formulations amid stumpy cut off power. The product permits substantial covering to be effortlessly sprayed on. DSX 3291 is appropriate in favor of each and every type of paints, such as premium flat, eggshell, semi-gloss and gloss coatings.

Wind power
There are immense occasion for coatings along with synthetic lubricants in the row for wind power.  Plants with an ability of 4430 MW had been established in the year 2006. This has made the nation the fourth leading manufacturer of wind energy worldwide; the market possibility is over ten times high, and gigantic expansion possibly predictable for the near prospect. The rotor blades and gearboxes are amongst the mainly strained and costly apparatus of wind power plants; their longevity is major factor in the overall profitability of such plants.  Cognis prevents the rotor blades through the Sovermol product range of solvent free polyols based on vegetable fats and oils. They supply durable security adjacent to yellowing, corrosion of mechanical assets along with an array of an ecological issues. For gearboxes, the Cognis lubricant Breox SL 320 offers the precise recital properties obligatory meant utilize in wind turbines, and is economically sound. It facilitates progress dependability and lengthens deplete hiatus, thus extensively ornamental the largely prosperity of the wind turbine.

A Folklore Splendor
The individual concern market in India is sturdily distinguished by means of the country's ancient ritual of domestic beauty management and purification products.
But, even as this ritual lingers tough, customer's rising contact to Western media and publicity, with increasing throwaway revenue, indicates to facilitate Western beauty trends and special concern goods ahead in recognition. In proportion to a latest reading by Euromonitor, transaction of personal care products in the country rose by 12 percent in 2008 and is anticipated to rise by 9 percent per annum amid 2008 and 2013. In support of the universal normal individual concern market, Datamonitor projects 12 percent annual growth until 2013 besides parallel statistics possibly anticipated for India. The prospects for producers are expected to be enormous. All the same, manufacturers oblige to realize the awfully precise desires of Indian consumers, plainly reassigning triumphant approaches and products from the West or other Asian countries is not plausible.

Shaping Abundance at a Peek
"Green" products will simply be really victorious if they do not conciliate on presentation. Due to this Cognis through its Green Chemical Solutions categorization structure strives in the direction of making it trouble-free intended for producers to establish the point of genuineness in favor of their finish products. The Green Formulation Grid classifies formulations keen on four evaluation of spontaneity also procedures them adjacent to third stage of concert. A four-leaved icon, giving the proportion of natural C-atoms that the entire formulation contains, visualizes the grid's categories. Formulations can be rated according to the height of "greenness" plus be intended next to definite buyer summary.

Making Hair Stronger
For an elongated period, Indian women have used conventional hair concern managements, although the utilization of shampoos and conditioners has amplified, making it one of the prime-striking zones in the Indian special concern market. The shampoo class stretched by 11 percent in 2008 moreover is anticipated to produce 10 percent yearly between present and 2013, surpassing even the sturdy expansion estimate for the personal heed market as a total. Conditioner transactions rose by 7.6 percent in 2008, and 5.5 percent annually are estimated until 2013.
To profit as of this escalation, manufacturers should recommend hair care products by way of precise remuneration, for instance breakage avoidance for long hair, or anti-dandruff effects. It can be a foremost test designed for formulators to convey these sorts of routine reimbursement whilst appropriate through the "green" movement moreover devoid of compromising on performance. State-of-the-art sphere chemicals can facilitate them to conquer these difficulties.
For instance, usual shampoos with the purpose of defending hair, chiefly long tresses, adjacent to splintering caused by the stresses of involuntary forces frequently have huge quantity of silicones. Waxes offer a "green" substitute to these silicones. Shampoos containing Cognis' Lamesoft Care wax diffusion have been revealed to equal the conditioning feat, moreover surpass the anti-breakage performance, of silicone-based market benchmarks.

Skin Whiteners
Skin whiteners perchance are the sole striking creation class in the skin heed segment in India. They are massively accepted, retailing are still increasing swiftly, moreover their application is approximately widespread. Men and women use them alike, besides purchaser approach commencing every regions of the community.
Laboratories Sérobiologiques, the energetic element commerce of Cognis Care Chemicals, have urbanized Actiwhite, a synergistic multifaceted by means of precise skin whitening efficiency. In vitro tests have highlighted Actiwhite's towering aptitude to hinder the bloom progression in individual skin. Its organic form of achievement consequences in a whitening effectiveness as superior as the market benchmark, and this has been confirmed by a clinical study on Asian skin types. Additionally, Actiwhite uses components, which are famous for their tremendous skin forbearance, thus every day, and enduring utilization is harmless, exclusive of some annoyance to the skin.

Food, Supplementary to Sustenance
Cognis' strategic commerce part Nutrition and Health devices to prolong the achievement tale by means of constructing on its skill in purposeful foods along with nutraceutical goods. Indian patrons are gradually looking to food not just for sheer nourishment, other than health reimbursement. Increasing awareness of disease prevention, an aging population, higher disposable incomes and medical expenses is driving the market. Cygnus Business Consulting and Research has forecast annual expansion rates of roughly 20 percent, much additional than what are estimated for the recommendation drug market.

Fighting Heart Illness, Avoiding Failure of Vision
The scenario primarily is excellent for purposeful foods as well as dietary supplements to concentrate on cardiovascular troubles also eye fitness, since these are amongst the country's prevalent fitness fears.
Natural plant sterols have been successful elements designed for running cholesterol levels moreover serving to avoid cardiovascular sickness. They lessen the point of terrible LDL cholesterol exclusive of distressing the good (HDL) cholesterol. Medical learning illustrates to facilitate day-by-day application of sterols and sterol esters can accomplish a usual cholesterol diminution of 10 percent. These advantageous fat-like materials arise logically in vegetables and fruits, and in upper attentiveness in vegetable oils, legumes, nuts and grains. Sterols contrived by Cognis are utterly unscented and nonaligned in flavor, can simply exist integrated keen on efficient foods resembling margarines or milk drinks, permitting in support of the formation of incredibly striking concluding products by confirmed declaration.
"Smart" foods can as well subsist a means for customers to safeguard their sight. Age-related Macular Degeneration, or AMD, is the mainly regular reason of image mutilation. The carotenoid lutein, which happens obviously in the eye, performs like a guard to watch the eye commencing the stress that roots AMD. Functional food components for example Xangold lutein esters from Cognis can facilitate clients extensively amplify their lutein intake, as well thus defend themselves adjacent to down their eyesight to AMD.
India is a land of tea drinkers, amid a strapping belief of ayurvedic medication furthermore natural curing techniques, hence teas by plant extracts with the aim of providing additional healthiness reimbursement are goods which the market is awfully complete to recognize. Plant remove for example Cognis' Plantalin variety can endowed  with a wide variety of different benefits. The range includes a number of different extracts, which variously offer energizing, calming and balancing properties. Functional beverages based on these extracts benefit manufacturers since they are easy to make. The standardized extracts are complete as water-soluble powders. And of course, they are also proper for a wide variety of other drinks besides tea.
To utilize the enormous potential of the Indian specialty chemicals market and ensure long-term success, certain challenges need to be addressed. The "green" trend that has been driving the markets in Western countries for years is now starting to gain momentum in India too. Green products that provide the specific benefits Indian consumers are demanding without compromising on performance offer very promising growth potential. With 160 years of experience in natural-based chemistry, and 50 percent of the possessions process being natural and renewable, Cognis is in an excellent position to help manufacturers make a brawny initiate in this sector.

Satish Moorkath is Business Manager Nutrition & Health India, Guido Appl is Business Manager Care Chemicals India and Ashok Pol is Business Manager India, Functional Products, Cognis India
satish.moorkath@cognis.com
guido.appl@cognis.com
ashok.pol@cognis.com