Many of us in the coatings industry recently returned from the European Coatings Show in Nuremberg, Germany, which had been on a four-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The long-awaited return of this event was met with a new obstacle; a nationwide strike by public transport workers on the opening day of the conference. The strike almost crippled public life in Germany, as all trains and flights were cancelled for a 24-hour period. It also radically changed the travel plans for many attendees. But determination won out, as coatings professionals from around the world found creative ways to make their way to the NürnbergMesse from March 27-30. Despite this hiccup, the event concluded with 24,605 attendees and 1,017 exhibitors from 42 countries. The European Coatings Conference was also well attended, with 730 delegates.

During the Plenary Session of the conference, attendees were asked to participate in a live survey involving key coatings industry issues, including market focus, applications, and future technologies. This ECS (and now ACS) tradition always provides an interesting look into what’s driving the coatings industry today. You can view the results below. Respondents were able to give more than one answer for each question.

What are currently the most important markets for you?

Which are the most important application areas for you?

Which of the following do you regard as the most important future technologies in your industry sector?

The conference offered 143 presentations, with speakers from more than 40 countries offering insights and the latest technology on a wide variety of topics. The highlight of the conference was the presentation of the coveted European Coatings Show Award. Congratulations to Dr. Hong Xu from Cardolite Corp., and her co-authors, Joseph Mauck (Cardolite USA) and James Zhao (Cardolite China), on winning the prestigious award with their work “Pursue Greener – Novel Sustainable CNSL-Based Diluent Designed for High-Performance, Low-VOC Protective Coatings.”

PCI is already looking forward to the next European Coatings Show and Conference, which will take place March 24-27, 2025.