Shortages of paint and products continue to affect the industry. Paint prices are rising due to the scarcity of raw materials. Labor shortages have created problems, from bringing paint to the market to placing it on the wall once it arrives. There isn't a lot of comforting news about when it will decline. For example, PPG notes that its consumers were especially interested in exterior paints, versatile stain-resistant options, and more sustainable paints with a low VOC content.
Another could be the already mentioned shortage of titanium dioxide, which plays an important role in the production of paints for traffic. According to the Carolina-based company A&K Painting Company, one of the reasons may be that, since products are harder to find, companies focus more on high-margin products. The pre-vaccination phase of the pandemic forced paint producers, who traditionally did not dominate direct-to-consumer e-commerce, to adapt their logistics on the fly. An article published in Real Homes suggests that, while it won't be impossible to find blue paint, it's a good idea to let your customers know that they might be on the waiting list to get it.
Many consumer-oriented companies have experienced delays and losses, and the paint industry is no exception. An article published in Bloomberg noted that paint giant Sherwin-Williams, which faced a shortage of raw materials and personnel problems among its managers, drivers and field representatives, recorded lower than expected profits. According to an article published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, if your customers choose the blues, they have to stop doing so. The ingredients needed for the color blue are scarce both in artistic painting and in the architectural one.
These peaks in demand would be difficult enough to cope with in the context of COVID, but the harsh winter weather in Texas is what really disorganized paint production. The rising cost of paint is just the latest product that forces consumers to spend more money. For Backdrop, maintaining the production of its cabinet and door paints proved to be the most difficult, given the necessary inputs. While Hayfield, of Farrow & Ball, points out that the availability of resins has gradually returned paint production to the “pre-pandemic pace”, broader macroeconomic challenges have precluded any possibility of economic recovery.
