Jotun Paints, a Norwegian company, has had a presence in the UAE since 1974. As construction has boomed in the Emirates over the years, Jotun has produced 85 million litres of paint a year in the country. Sverre Knudsen, the general manager of Jotun Paints, Abu Dhabi, discusses the importance of this market to the company's overall business and explains why Jotun developed a special product for part of Masdar City, the UAE capital's carbon-neutral development.
How important is the UAE market to the company?
It is one of our biggest markets. This is very much due to the big developments in Dubai for many years. Lately, Abu Dhabi has started to increase a lot. The Middle East is a very important area for Jotun, and probably the biggest contributor to the company.
Has Jotun developed any products for the heat of the Middle East, given that the region is such an important market?
[One product] reduces the indoor temperature by 3 to 4 degrees [Celsius], which actually has an effect on your energy bills at the end of the day. It reflects the beams from the sun.
You made a special type of paint for Masdar. What is different about it?
When you do a carbon footprint analysis, you go from cradle to grave and you measure what are the carbon emissions by digging out the raw materials, what about transport to and from the factory and the use of energy. That was the main thing we did to get into Masdar with one of our paints, so we could document that we saved around 60 per cent on carbon emissions.
How much paint did you use on the project?
We used around 60,000 litres - and painted around 500,000 square metres. We painted the university there.
Did you have to create a new colour for Masdar?
Not very much, because we usually have all the colours in our system. But they had some special requirements. Inside, it was more or less white or off-white. Outside, it was kind of a reddish sand colour. If you have been out in the Liwa desert, you will have seen the colour.
What is the most popular shade of paint you sell here?
[For outdoors,] it is a beige, sand colour, because of all of the dust here. If you have painted it blue or red, it will very quickly get dirty. [For] inside, we have a combination of different products, but what is really nice is we have some special-effect colours, which Arabs really love. Maybe they paint one wall and put some special lights on it. It can be metallic or different shades. It is gaining a lot of popularity. [Westerners] are more traditional, with white, beige - these kind of colours.
Do you get many people buying black paint?
No, but it happens. It can be some young people who really want to stand out. It can be nice to have one wall black.
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