CHEMICAL & ENGINEERING
NEWS VOLUME
38,
NUMBER
26
The Chemical W o r l d This W e e k
JUNE 27, 1960
Chemical Specialties Ride the Boating Boom Pleasure boating is a 6 million-gallon-a-year market for paints, a $6 million-a-year market for chemical specialties Pleasure boating, now in full swing, is fast becoming an important market for chemical specialties. This year, according to best estimates, sales of specialty maintenance products for pleas• ure boats should be up 10 to 15% over last year's $6 million retail level; sales of marine paints and varnishes should show a 15 to 20% gain over the 6 million gallons sold last year. The pleasure boat industry has grown fast. According to the National Association of Engine and Boat Manufacturers, the industry is six and a half times bigger than it was seven years ago. Although this year's growth rate isn't expected to match that of the last seven years, sales of pleasure boats will probably increase 5 to 7 1 / 2 % over the 360,000 boats sold in 1959. The Outboard Boating Club of America figures that 40 million people will take to the water this summer in 8 million pleasure craft of all types. As the boating industry continues to grow, makers of marine paints and specialties will find a lucrative market awaiting them.
epoxy and polyurethane paints account for 1 to 3% of the consumer market. About 95% of bottom paint sold is a modified phenolic tung and linseed oil containing cuprous oxide (around 45%) to give the paint antifouling properties. About 3 to 5% of bottom paint is vinyl plus cuprous oxide, used mostly on steel boats. Boat builders, as well as boat owners, are a big market for marine paint makers. Last year, boat builders used about 2 to 3 million gallons of paints and varnishes. Alkyd resin paints and varnishes account for 85% of the total, antifouling paint and a small amount
of epoxy and polyurethane finishes make up the remainder. Biggest development in marine paints in recent years has been the introduction of epoxy and polyurethane finishes. Although some marine paint companies are now pushing these products hard, neither has made inroads in the pleasure boat market. However, marine paint companies feel that the epoxies and polyurethanes may account for the bulk of the marine paint market within two years. The amount of paint purchased yearly by boat companies varies widely. Owens Yacht Co., for one,
Paint Is Biggest Item. Paint is by far the most important item used in maintaining pleasure boats. According to estimates of marine paint companies, boat owners bought 3 to 4 million gallons of paints and varnishes last year. Alkyd resin paints and varnishes account for about 75% of the paint consumed by boat owners; antifouling bottom paint (used to prevent barnacles and other forms of marine life from attacking boat bottoms) accounts for another 15 to 22%; PLEASURE MARKET. Boats like this 35-foot Chris-Craft are boosting specialty sales. Boat owners spend an average of $35 a year for maintenance products J U N E 2 7, 1960 C & E N
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spends about $200,000 to $250,000 a year on paints and varnishes. Another large boat'maker, Chris-Craft, used 32,000 gallons of paint and varnishes last year. Who's Who. The big three in the marine paint business are International Paint Co., Pettit Paint Co., and C. A. Woolsey Paint & Color Co., a division of Sapolin Paints, Inc., all of New York. Other leading companies in the business include Baltimore Copper Paint Co., Glidden, Du Pont, Federal Paint Co., Benjamin Moore & Co., Andrew Brown Co., the Valspar Corp., Red Hand Compositions Co., and Surface Coating Engineers, Inc. ChrisCraft, Owens, Glasspar Co., and Lone Star Boat Co. are among the 10 largest companies in the pleasure boat field. According to the National Association of Engine and Boat Manufacturers, some 450 boat companies turned out 85% of all boats sold last year, another 400 companies turned out the remaining 15%. Selling Specialties. Because the mass marketing of pleasure boat specialties is a relatively new development, distribution patterns aren't well established and prices aren't standardized. Realistic market figures are hard to come by, and many small specialty makers have found that the field just isn't as big as they had expected. For the most part, companies marketing boat specialties are tight-lipped, privately-owned companies that operate more on guesses than detailed market studies. In addition, the business is largely controlled by weather and economic conditions—a point many companies tend to forget. Most popular specialty items sold to boat owners include bilge cleaners (specially formulated heavy-duty detergents), canvas preservatives (paraffin wax plus mineral spirits or silicone sprays), wood and rope preservatives (copper naphthenate), paint removers (methylene chloride), epoxy and polyvinyl glues, various metal cleaners, calking and sealing compounds, and motor oil and marine fuel additives. Dihy droxy dichlorodiphe n y l m e t h a n e (Sindar Corp.'s G-4) is also used in substantial quantities as a fungicide in canvas and rope preservatives. Most boat specialties are sold through marinas. According to the Marine Dealer, about 50,000 retail outlets in the U.S. sell boat specialties. About 23,000 of these handle nothing but marine specialties; the remainder are mostly hardware, sporting goods, 20
C&EN
JUNE
27,
1960
SPECIALTY SEALANT. Pleasure boat industry has created a new market for polysulfide sealants. Sales of these sealants for pleasure boats now total about $1 million a year. Over 80% of all wood boats built are now sealed with polysulfide
and automotive supply stores. Automotive supply outlets are becoming an increasingly important outlet. Boat owners aren't particularly price conscious but they are very new-product conscious. Boat owners feel that the cost of maintaining their boats is small in comparison to the boats' overall cost, and they want the best quality products that they can buy. Boat owners are always on the lookout for new products, too. They spend an average of $35 a year ($20 for paint, $15 for specialties) on boatcare products. Some of the leading companies that market chemical specialties for pleasure boats include: Sudbury Laboratory (Sudbury, Mass.); Marine Products (Oshkosh, Wis.); International; Woolsey; Pettit; H. B. Fred Kuhls (Brooklyn); H. A. Calahan (Mamaroneck, N.Y.); the Durkee Co. (New York); U.S. Plywood (New York); Darworth (Simsbury, Conn.) New this year is Du Pont's "7-Seas" line of chemical specialties. The company now has five specialty items in distribution and plans to introduce two more (a bilge cleaner and an allpurpose cleaner) this summer. Wood Saver. The pleasure boat business has also created a new market for makers of polysulfide sealants. According to one big boat builder, Chris-Craft, polysulfide sealants were the single most important reason for
its decision to go into the Sea Skiff line of lapstrake, round-bottom boats. Chris-Craft now uses about 2750 gallons a year of polysulfide sealants (at a cost of $13 to $25 a gallon). Thiokol Chemical Co. makes the polymer, sells it to formulators who, in turn, market the sealant to boat builders. There are some 20 formulators marketing polysulfide sealants for pleasure boats, but one company, Minnesota Mining, has the bulk of the market. Boat builders provide the big market for polysulfide sealants; the retail market hasn't yet gotten off the ground. Fire Stoppers. Sales of fire extinguishers are also sailing along with the pleasure boat boom. Now, most extinguishers used on boats are 5pound carbon dioxide units, but sales of 2 1 / 2 -pound dry chemical (sodium bicarbonate base) extinguishers are moving up fast. One fire extinguisher company, Ansul Chemical, figures that 2.5 to 3 million dry chemical units (at a cost of $15 to $25 per unit) will be sold over the next year and a half. Helping boost the market for dry and carbon dioxide units is the Coast Guard's decision to withdraw approval of carbon tetrachloride units. According to the Coast Guard, which sets specifications for fire extinguishers on pleasure boats, carbon tet units can no longer be installed on new boats and by January 1962 no pleasure boat can carry a carbon tet extinguisher.
