What MacDermid makes

MacDermid, Incorporated is a global specialty chemicals company built around surface finishing and electronics materials. Its industrial business, MacDermid Enthone, formulates the chemistry that plating shops and coating applicators use to finish metal and plastic parts: decorative chrome and nickel, plating on plastics, acid copper, precious-metal deposits, and functional anti-corrosion and wear coatings. Its electronics business, MacDermid Alpha, supplies chemistries and materials across electronics manufacturing, from wafer fabrication to device assembly. Two smaller businesses cover industrial wastewater treatment (MacDermid Envio) and offshore production and drilling control fluids (MacDermid Offshore).

For automotive buyers, the relevant work sits in surface finishing. MacDermid Enthone runs product lines for decorative coatings (trivalent and hexavalent chromium processes such as TriMac, StarLite and Twilite; bright, semi-bright and satin nickel; acid copper), full plating-on-plastics metallization cycles, and functional finishes including electroless nickel and hard chrome for wear resistance. The company also formulates materials that support automotive electronics and EV power modules through MacDermid Alpha, which is where most of the group's growth has come from in recent years.

The materials profile shows up in the import record. MacDermid's US sea shipments are dominated by chemical feedstock, plastics and silicones in primary forms, surface-active agents, and inorganic salts such as chromium trioxide and nickel sulfate, alongside large intra-group flows from its own affiliates in the UK, Italy and Germany. That is the signature of a company that manufactures plating and finishing chemistry, not one that resells finished goods.

Automotive surface finishing

MacDermid Enthone frames its automotive offer around three programs. For fasteners, it says its anti-corrosion coatings are specified and approved by all leading global automotive companies for both conventional internal-combustion and electric powertrain systems. For brake systems, it markets coating solutions engineered for corrosion protection on safety-critical components, describing them as trusted by leading global OEMs. For interior and exterior decor, it supplies decorative chrome and nickel finishes for trim and grilles.

Two proprietary approval systems anchor the automotive positioning. ZinKlad is MacDermid Enthone's audited zinc and zinc-alloy coating standard for fasteners and brake parts, built for a hexavalent-chromium-free world. DecoKlad is the equivalent standard for decorative finishes. In both cases, the company operates an approved-applicator model: applicators apply the products to a common audited standard so that a global OEM can specify one finish and get consistent corrosion resistance, torque and tension behavior, and appearance wherever the part is coated. The company states that these systems are compliant with the End-of-Life Vehicle directive, REACH and RoHS, and meet the conditions outlined in ISO 9001:2015.

Financial performance

MacDermid does not report standalone financials. It is a wholly owned operating business of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE: ESI), and the published figures are the parent's consolidated results. Element Solutions reported net sales of $2.55 billion for fiscal 2025, up 4 percent on a reported basis and 6 percent organically over 2024, with adjusted EBITDA of $548 million at a margin of about 21.5 percent and reported net income of $191 million. The electronics business built on MacDermid Alpha drove the growth, with double-digit organic gains tied to datacenter and high-performance-computing demand; the industrial and specialty side was slower but still delivered organic sales growth.

The parent carries an investment-grade profile: roughly $359 million in cash at the start of 2025, a regular dividend, an active share-repurchase program, and a $500 million revolving credit facility extended to 2031. Element Solutions guided fiscal 2026 adjusted EBITDA to a range of $650 million to $670 million, inclusive of two acquisitions closed early in 2026.

Ownership and history

MacDermid traces to 1922, when Archie J. MacDermid, a Scottish immigrant, set up a small metal finishing business in Waterbury, Connecticut. Over the next century the company grew organically and through acquisition into a global surface-finishing and electronics-materials group, and its Enthone industrial business now cites more than 5,000 employees in over 80 countries.

In October 2013, Platform Acquisition Holdings, later renamed Element Solutions Inc, agreed to acquire MacDermid for approximately $1.8 billion plus contingent consideration; the deal closed across late 2013 and early 2014. Under Element Solutions, MacDermid has been reshaped: the group acquired Coventya, a global surface-finishing chemicals provider, in 2021, folding it into MacDermid Enthone; it sold the MacDermid Graphics Solutions printing-plate business in early 2025; and in early 2026 it added the Micromax electronics inks and pastes business and the EFC specialty-gases business. Element Solutions is led by Chief Executive Officer Benjamin H. Gliklich and by Carey J. Dorman, President of Enterprise Operations and Chief Financial Officer. MacDermid keeps its Waterbury, Connecticut base at 245 Freight Street.

Certifications and quality

MacDermid Enthone's Quality Performance System is its central quality and compliance framework for automotive coatings. The company states that QPS products are compliant with the ELV directive, REACH and RoHS, and meet the conditions outlined in ISO 9001:2015, and that the ZinKlad and DecoKlad approved-applicator programs enforce a common audited standard so that OEMs get consistent finish performance across their supply base. These are the company's own published claims, reported here as claims. The move away from hexavalent chromium toward trivalent chromium and zinc-alloy systems is a stated design priority across the automotive portfolio.

Known customers

MacDermid's automotive customers are OEMs and their coating applicators rather than named accounts, and the company describes the relationships in program terms rather than naming individual carmakers.

No individual OEM account passes the documented bar from public sources, so none is named. The honest reading is that MacDermid sits upstream in the automotive supply chain as a chemistry and approval-standard supplier to the plating and coating base.

Sourcing evidence

MacDermid's US import record runs to 1,358 sea shipments from January 2015 through September 2026, with the most recent on September 10, 2026, so the lane is active. The mix is overwhelmingly chemical: plastics and silicones in primary forms, surface-active agents, paints and inks, and inorganic salts including chromium trioxide and nickel sulfate. A large share of volume is intra-group, arriving from MacDermid's own affiliates, and the bills of lading reflect a manufacturer moving feedstock and finished chemistry between plants rather than importing goods to resell.

Seven shown of the recorded suppliers. By origin, Europe accounts for about 75 percent of shipments (United Kingdom 516, Italy 287, Germany 79) and Asia about 19 percent (China 120, Japan 40, Taiwan 33). ImportYeti estimates cumulative ocean shipping spend near $1.8 million, with cost data covering about 54 percent of shipments, so treat it as an order-of-magnitude figure.

Coverage caveats: these are US ocean-freight records only. Air, truck and rail movements do not appear; some records name freight intermediaries rather than manufacturers; and product categories come from declared manifest codes, which are noisy. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence.

Frequently asked questions

What does MacDermid make?

MacDermid, Incorporated is a specialty chemicals company that makes surface-finishing and electronics materials. Its industrial business, MacDermid Enthone, formulates decorative chrome and nickel, plating-on-plastics, acid copper, precious-metal and functional anti-corrosion and wear coatings. Its electronics business, MacDermid Alpha, supplies chemistries and materials for electronics manufacturing and assembly.

Who owns MacDermid?

MacDermid is a wholly owned operating business of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE: ESI), which acquired it for about $1.8 billion in a deal that closed across late 2013 and early 2014. MacDermid was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Waterbury, Connecticut.

What is MacDermid's revenue?

MacDermid does not report standalone revenue. Its parent, Element Solutions, reported consolidated net sales of $2.55 billion for fiscal 2025, up 4 percent from 2024, with adjusted EBITDA of $548 million and net income of $191 million.

Where is MacDermid headquartered?

MacDermid is headquartered at 245 Freight Street, Waterbury, Connecticut, where the company was founded in 1922. Its parent, Element Solutions, is based in Florida, and the group operates more than 50 manufacturing facilities across more than 80 countries.

Who are MacDermid's automotive customers?

MacDermid serves automotive OEMs and their coating applicators rather than a named account list. The company states that its fastener anti-corrosion coatings are approved by all leading global automotive companies and that its brake-coating solutions are trusted by leading global OEMs, operating through its ZinKlad and DecoKlad approved-applicator programs.

What certifications does MacDermid hold?

MacDermid Enthone states that its Quality Performance System products are compliant with the ELV directive, REACH and RoHS, and meet the conditions outlined in ISO 9001:2015. Its ZinKlad (functional anti-corrosion) and DecoKlad (decorative) programs enforce a common audited standard across approved applicators.

Last verified September 28, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.