Valspar targets container industry

Valspar targets container industry    A paint company that produced spar vanish for the tall sailing ships in the 19th century is now targeting a new type of paint at the container shipping industry.
   Valspar Corp. said it has commercialized a proprietary technology and application process for coating marine containers.
   It said China International Marine Containers (CIMC), the world’s largest container manufacturing company, has launched full-scale production of shipping containers coated with Valspar Aquaguard, a water-based and zinc-free paint, at its Dalian, China, factory.
   The company said its calculations found use of Valspar Aquaguard would reduce solvent emissions by more than 70 percent and provide superior corrosion protection.
   It said its claims were verified through field testing and independently conducted corrosion tests specified by the Institute of International Container Lessors.
   The annual market for coatings for the shipping container market is estimated by Valspar to be about $1 billion globally.
   Paul McCrory, global business director for Valspar, said the company, in partnership with CIMC was able to complete the production line start-up ahead of schedule. We were quickly able to run containers at line speeds equal to those of solvent-based coatings.”
   “Water-based coatings are the way of the future,” said John M. Williams, director of engineering for the leasing company Triton Container. “We’ve conducted several trials and all laboratory test results showed that Valspar Aquaguard performed as good as or better than the conventional solvent-based systems that we are currently using.”