Our business / Jotun Protective Coatings
Jotun’s rapid growth in the Protective Coatings
segment has been driven by strong products and
the company’s experience in managing large
and complex oil & gas, energy and infrastructure
projects.
Jotun Group Report 2021 I 19
Growth trend continues
Excellent results in the Protective Coatings segment follow a long-term growth trend that has
helped propel Jotun into the top tier of multinational coatings suppliers.
In a year characterised by rolling lockdowns, global supply
chain disruptions and project delays, Jotun nevertheless was
able to achieve record-high sales in the Protective Coatings
segment. Higher sales have been driven by success in all
regions where Jotun is active, including China where it is
the market leader. While gross margins were impacted by
high raw materials costs, the company’s implementation of
price increases and a focus on manageable costs helped the
segment achieve modest year-end profits.
A RELIABLE SUPPLIER
Jotun’s success owes much to the skill and dedication of its
personnel, who were able to secure cross-border contracts,
strengthen relationships with key stakeholders and provide
high-quality technical service to existing projects, often during
lockdown periods. Their work has bolstered Jotun’s reputation
for reliability and its experience in managing large and
complex oil & gas, energy and infrastructure projects. Jotun’s
results were also supported by double-digit sales achieved
through the company’s global network of dealers who now
have access to “myJotun”, a dedicated full-service web portal
launched last year.
To accelerate expansion in the infrastructure market, Jotun
will leverage its R&D expertise in specialised intumescent
coatings, such as the SteelMaster range of products, and
provide stakeholders with the products and data they need to
achieve “green building” certification. Jotun will continue to
pursue contracts in oil & gas-related industries, with a special
focus on maintenance projects in the hydrocarbon processing
industry (HPI) to achieve more predictable growth. Jotun has
also identified opportunities in the growing wind energy
sector where the company has developed “single-source”
coatings solutions for towers, nacelles and, in some markets,
blade coatings.
PREPARED FOR THE FUTURE
Jotun anticipates the increasing sales trend in the Protective
Coatings segment will continue in 2022, but profitability is
likely to be impacted by persistently high raw material prices,
at least for the first half of the year. Nevertheless, Jotun’s new
Performance Coatings structure, which empowers regional
personnel and enables more seamless cooperation between
functions, combined with the scheduled launch of exciting
new products, will put the company in a strong position to
accelerate growth in the years ahead.