The global high performance pigments market was valued at $5.69 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.8% from 2023 to 2030, according to a report from Grand View Research.

High-performance products have a higher price point than their conventional counterparts. This remains a key challenge for the manufacture of these types of pigments. Raw material prices could also prove challenging to the bottom line.

“The high-performance pigments market faced a challenging year in 2024, particularly in the second half,” said Sunny Kwok, global accounts director, OXERRA Americas. “Ongoing global uncertainty and geopolitical unrest continue to cloud the business outlook. Still, over the past decade, the CICP market has shown strong growth, driven by expanding end-use industries and rising demand for durable, sustainable pigment solutions. That’s why OXERRA has expanded its product portfolio in this area. Despite short-term cost pressures and raw material constraints, innovation and evolving regulatory trends point to continued long-term market expansion.”

“We saw substantial growth in the need for our high-performance inorganic color pigments,” said Mark Ryan, market and product manager, The Shepherd Color Company. “Shepherd Color is embarking on the second half of a $40 million expansion project to increase capacity at our Cincinnati, OH facility as we see the growth heading into 2025 and beyond.”

Kwok noted that inorganic pigments are safe, stable and among the most sustainable coloring agents available today. “Their key advantages include exceptional durability, technical performance, cost-effectiveness, environmental safety, and adaptability for specialized applications—making them essential for high-quality, long-lasting color solutions.”

“Our Complex Inorganic Color Pigments (CICPs) are the ultimate in durability and inertness,” noted Ryan. “We continue to work in R&D on expanding the ‘durable color envelope’ with improvements to current and new pigment chemistries for higher chromaticity, higher solar reflectivity, and other properties. We ‘stack’ technology by taking our Arctic IR Black technology and adding our Dynamix easily-dispersed advantage to make our Arctic Black 30C940 and Black 30C941. These pigments preserve their dark masstone color and high total solar reflectance (TSR) without having to be processed in a small-media mill, which can add variability and the risk of contamination, which can reduce TSR. So while most high performance pigments focus on color, we add functionality and performance beyond color while making the pigments easier to use in production.”

High-performance and special effect pigments offer superior properties when compared to their conventional counterparts. These characteristics include longer durability life, making them useful for a number of applications across multiple industries.

“The automotive, construction, coatings, plastics, and cosmetics industries represent the strongest growth opportunities for high-performance pigments, driven by increasing demands for sustainability, technological innovation and regulatory compliance,” noted Kwok. “OXERRA pigments meet these strict requirements, and we’re actively advancing sustainability and other priorities our customers value in their manufacturing processes.”

Recently Launched Products

Shepherd Color has followed up on the innovative chemistry of YInMn Blue 10G513 with a radical improvement in cobalt blues (PBL28). “While a known and approved chemistry, Blue 20G599 is significantly more chromatic than our standard cobalt blues,” Ryan added. “Besides the historical use in high-durability liquid and powder coatings for building products, it is an interesting option for automotive coatings and gel coat applications.”

OXERRA has introduced heat-stable pigments designed for high-temperature applications such as engineering plastics, coil coatings and powder coatings. “We also offer IR-reflective pigments that help reduce heat absorption in coil and roof coatings and are increasingly used in recycled plastics,” Kwok said. “Another key area of focus is our line of high-purity pigments, which feature some of the industry’s lowest levels of trace metal contaminants, making them ideal for use in personal care products and pet food applications.”