COVID-19 Impact on Organic Dyes and Pigments | Chemical & Materials Industry

Posted by Rajesh M on April 27th, 2021

COVID-19 Impact on Organic Dyes and Pigments in Chemical and Materials Industry

A dye is a coloured compound that binds chemical to the substrate to which it is applied. This differentiates dyes from pigments that do not bind chemically to the substance they paint. The dye is normally applied in an aqueous solution to increase the strength of the dye on the fibre and may require a mordant. Both dyes and pigments are coloured, so they only absorb those visible light wavelengths. In water, dyes are typically soluble, whereas pigments are insoluble. With the addition of salt to create a lake pigment, certain dyes may be made insoluble or solid precipitate. Roots, berries, bark, leaves, wood, fungi and lichens are the majority of natural dyes extracted from plant sources. Most dyes are synthetic, means man-made from petrochemicals. The industrial dyes and pigments market is specifically categorized under the two headings namely commodity and specialty. A pigment is a material that changes the colour of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption.

To colour, paint, ink, plastic, clothing, cosmetics, food and other products, pigments are used. The majority of pigments used in production and the visual arts are dry dyes, typically ground into a fine powder. This powder is applied to a binder (or vehicle) for use in paint, a relatively neutral or colourless substance that suspends the pigment and gives adhesion to the paint. There is generally a distinction between a pigment that is insoluble in its vehicle (resulting in a suspension) and a colourant that is either liquid in itself or soluble in its vehicle (resulting in a solution). Depending on the vehicle involved, a colourant may act as either a pigment or a dye.

By precipitating a soluble dye with a metallic salt, a pigment can be formed from a colourant. The pigment that results in the same is called a lake pigment. For all coloured compounds, regardless of their solubility, the term biological pigment is used. Permanence and stability are desirable properties for industrial applications, as well as in the arts. Fugitives are called pigments that are not permanent. Over time, or with exposure to light, fugitive pigments fade while some gradually blacken.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON DYES AND PIGMENTS INDUSTRY

As the demand for organic chemicals is rising across the world due to the spread of the coronavirus, manufacturers are on the verge of rising the prices of organic chemicals products along with suppliers and online vendors. Globally, the dyes and pigments market is expected to see healthy growth in the coming years, led by growing construction and automotive industries. Market growth is expected to be influenced by the rising demand for organic pigments. In recent years, population growth, coupled with per capita income growth, has boosted the consumption of paints and coatings in the building & construction, automotive and consumer goods industries. This, in turn, created considerable demand in the paint & coatings segment for pigments. One of the main users of pigments is plastics. In the plastics industry, pigments form an important part. Pigments give plastic products a particular appearance and styling effect. In the wide variety of plastics, pigments are used as colourants, owing to their excellent compatibility with many types of plastics.

The dyes and pigments market is affected by decreased demand and productivity during the current COVID-19 scenario. The overall demand for chemicals used in other facilities has decreased due to the fact that only the processing of essential goods is currently allowed. The key challenges are a mixture of the consequences of the shutdown affecting the spread of fixed costs, labour shortages including contract workers, challenges with working capital and finally the decline in local and export demand. Pigment production is relatively people-intensive industry, especially in India, and if there is a shortage of labour, this could have a detrimental impact on the use of ability. Pigments are used in applications such as coatings, inks and paints and pigments are commonly used for the application of automotive paint. It is well known that in India and worldwide, the automotive segment is affected.

In many fields, the pigments used in inks are important such as printing on foil used by the pharmaceutical industry, food containers and other necessities, so it may be considered that pigments are essential goods. The problem is the domestic and international drop in demand that threatens to affect sales.

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