Sudarshan Chemical Industries Limited, a global pigment leader, continues to drive innovation and sustainable growth through low-carbon technologies and strong global partnerships. Dr. Klaus Baumgart highlights the company鈥檚 strategic expansions and its rise among the world鈥檚 top pigment manufacturers.
Sudarshan Chemical Industries Limited, based in India, is a legacy spanning over 270 years in pigment manufacturing in Colorant chemistry. Its portfolio spans coatings, plastics, cosmetics, and specialty applications, featuring sustainable anticorrosive pigments like Heucophos鈩� and Heucorin鈩�. 果酱视频 spoke with Dr. Klaus Baumgart, Sudarshan鈥檚 Chief Technology Officer and a pigment industry veteran, about the company鈥檚 innovation strategy and global expansion. With over four decades of international experience, Dr. Baumgart emphasized Sudarshan鈥檚 focus on market-driven, sustainable technologies and its expansion into Australia through a partnership with Brenntag. He also highlighted advancements in low-carbon pigment processes and collaborations with start-ups and universities. Now among the world鈥檚 top two pigment manufacturers, ONE Sudarshan continues to lead with innovation, sustainability, and customer-focused growth.
Complete Interview with Dr. Klaus Baumgart
Q: Please provide an overview of your professional journey and experience in the pigment industry, and how it has influenced your vision and approach as CTO at Sudarshan, particularly in driving innovation and sustainability.
Dr. Klaus Baumgart: I am an organic chemist by training and hold a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. My career in pigments began in 1984 with Hoechst AG, where I started as a Technical Applications Chemist and later gained my first international experience in the United States driving Hoechst Celanese鈥檚 Non-Impact Printing business. In 1989, I moved to Japan to lead Hoechst鈥檚 pigments business 鈥� a role that fundamentally shaped my global perspective on the industry.
Following assignments in Frankfurt, India (as Head of ColorChem鈥檚 Division PA), and Korea (as Managing Director of Songwon Color Ltd.), I returned to Europe in 2003 and held senior techno-commercial leadership roles at Clariant International in Switzerland. After retiring from Clariant, I joined Sudarshan Chemical Industries in 2019 for a major technical program, which subsequently expanded into broader responsibility across R&D, Product Management, and Product Stewardship.
These cumulative global experiences 鈥� across Europe, Asia, and the US 鈥� have deeply influenced how I view technology leadership at Sudarshan: innovation must be market-connected, customer-relevant, and sustainability-driven. As CTO of ONE Sudarshan since March 2025, my focus is on accelerating high-performance, sustainable pigment technologies that not only meet customer expectations worldwide but also contribute positively to environmental responsibility and the future direction of our industry.
Q: Could you outline Sudarshan鈥檚 current strategic priorities, particularly in the context of your recent expansion into Australia through the Brenntag supply agreement? How important is supply chain resilience for partnerships in regions with complex logistics, such as Southeast Asia and Australia?听
Dr. Klaus Baumgart: In March 2025, Sudarshan acquired Heubach Group including Germany鈥檚 Heubach GmbH, which had more than 20 years of successful cooperation with Brenntag in New Zealand. As a global solutions provider to the coatings and special application industries, Sudarshan, a pigment market leader with long history of innovation in colorant chemistry, extended the collaboration with Brenntag into Australia. Brenntag will support Australian market with Sudarshan鈥檚 portfolio including Heucophos鈩� and Heucorin鈩�, two high-performance anticorrosive pigment ranges that provide sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions. Together, we can deliver our sustainable anticorrosive pigment solutions, such as Heucophos鈩� and Heucorin鈩�, to a wider base of customers in Australia, helping them meet the highest standards of performance and protection.
Following the acquisition, ONE Sudarshan, is now among the world鈥檚 top two pigment manufacturers. We are leveraging our global production and technical marketing network to deliver solutions tailored to diverse markets. Our manufacturing footprint has expanded to 19 sites across 11 countries. Asia Pacific requirements are benefiting from nearby supply chains using local production sites in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Thailand as well as regional warehouses. We provide support for regional needs with local technical marketing teams, while ensuring close customer engagement and a clear understanding of local demand.
Q: How is the global demand for high-performance anticorrosive pigments evolving, and how are Sudarshan鈥檚 advanced pigment technologies, such as Heucophos鈩� and Heucorin鈩�, helping to meet these needs while enhancing long-term corrosion resistance and product durability?
Dr. Klaus Baumgart: The trend towards higher efficiency in the protective coatings鈥� world continues strongly. Long-term corrosion resistance is gaining even greater importance, as it significantly contributes to resource savings in terms of both raw materials and labour costs. Consequently, we are observing an ongoing shift within our broad portfolio of anticorrosive pigments 鈥� from standard grades to more sophisticated products that enable our customers to formulate coatings with much longer protection capability.
This can be achieved by selecting the appropriate Heucophos鈩� grade for the relevant binder / substrate system, including synergistic combinations with our organic inhibitor Heucorin鈩� RZ. Alongside the trend towards higher efficiency, a second strong theme is the clear movement towards zinc-free solutions 鈥� which are now also delivering higher efficiency compared to traditional standard grades.
Q: How does Sudarshan anticipate and prepare for the future needs of clients operating in challenging environments like Australia? What approaches help you stay ahead of these demands?
Dr. Klaus Baumgart: Sudarshan actively participates in various industry associations such as CE, EFfCI and ETAD, and we are equally engaged in joint R&D activities with universities and selected start-ups to cover regulatory developments and fully capture technical market tendencies at an early stage. These collaborations also enable Sudarshan to acquire and integrate new technologies internally, or together with partners through joint ventures. One current example is the development of a fermentation-based pigment process for specific applications with very low Product Carbon Footprint (PCF).
Through this approach, we are better positioned to anticipate the evolving needs of customers in challenging environments, including markets such as Australia, and remain ahead of future performance and sustainability demands.
Q: Looking ahead, what major milestones does Sudarshan aim to achieve over the next year, particularly in innovation, sustainability, and global market expansion?
Dr. Klaus Baumgart: Before the acquisition, Sudarshan already had one of the most extensive colorant portfolios globally, covering major organic pigment chemistries such as Azo, Isoindolinone, Dioxazine, Phthalocyanine, Quinacridone and Diketopyrrolopyrrole, alongside pearlescent and inorganic pigments produced at our Indian sites.
Post acquisition, we now offer more than 1,600 products and serve customers in over 120 countries. This global presence enables more localized products, tailored technical services and shorter transportation routes. This helps us reduce product carbon footprint while improving responsiveness to regional requirements.
We actively manage our portfolio and assets to ensure growth, not only by continuously refining our product line-up, but also by investing in process R&D that allows us to reduce energy consumption, trace impurities and minimize side reactions. This directly lowers waste treatment requirements while increasing competitiveness through more efficient production.
In parallel, we are pursuing selected cooperations with innovative start-ups to explore colorant solutions based on renewable raw materials and biological production processes. These long-term partnerships help ensure ONE Sudarshan can anticipate future requirements early and continue driving innovation, sustainability and global expansion forward.听听
Q: From a technological and customer-value perspective, how does Sudarshan differentiate itself from competitors in the anticorrosive pigment segment?
Dr. Klaus Baumgart: Sudarshan offers a unique product portfolio with all kinds of price/performance ratios. Our products show excellent dispersibility, highest pureness in terms of heavy metals content and corrosion stimulation ions, as well as a carefully controlled and designed particle size distribution for an optimized product performance. Especially in the high-efficiency area, it is extremely important to choose the correct product for the requested binder/substrate combination. Based on our strong application development expertise, we can provide adequate recommendations for starting-point formulations for several different well-known binders.
Q: Please share your insights or perspectives on emerging trends and future opportunities in the pigment industry.
Dr. Klaus Baumgart: The desire for color is as old as humanity itself. However, requirements for colorant solutions are changing in terms of eco-friendliness and environmental sustainability. Today, colorant performance is not only measured by performance during intended use but also by their environmental impact.听 At ONE Sudarshan, we address this through innovation and efficient processes. For example, we convert manufacturing byproducts like aluminium sludge and diluted Phosphoric Acid into useful materials, reducing waste and emissions. We have also developed pigments certified for biodegradable plastics such as PLA, PHA, PBS, and PBAT, delivering strong, lasting colors while meeting compostability standards. In addition, NIR-detectable black pigments help identify and recycle black plastics in food, personal care, and electronics packaging.
果酱视频 Insights on Titanium Dioxide
In Japan, the Titanium Dioxide market experienced a notable quarter-over-quarter decline in the Price Index, driven by weak demand and subdued trade activity. Spot prices remained largely stable as buyers deferred purchases amid elevated inventories and restrained budgets. Production costs stayed steady due to stable sulphuric acid and Energy Prices, while demand remained sluggish, with cautious procurement from the construction and Automotive Coatings Sectors. Competitive exports from China and softer regional offtake added further downward pressure on the market. Although export demand weakened and inventories rose, temporary operational adjustments in Yokohama briefly tightened domestic distribution. The outlook suggests modest upside potential if restocking activities increase or if typhoon-related disruptions affect supply.
