"Perhaps what you may be indicating is that any such potential...

"Perhaps what you may be indicating is that any such potential shift of the demand curve (due to a fundamental change in the use of building materials) may occur over a drawn out period of time??"

Yes. That is what I think I am saying.
(But really, it is not a major issue; merely one part of a good industry structure in which DLX operates)


"One other thing to keep in mind with an eye to the future, are raw material prices - particularly oil. Who knows where the crude oil price will go (it appears low!), I believe it is an important input cost in the paints and coatings business."

On this point I disagree somewhat.

I have long given up worrying about extraneous factors which not one is able to forecast with any degree of reliability.

And this is especially so in the case of a company such as Dulux, which has the demonstrated ability to offset any such input cost increases by flexing its product pricing.

One thing I don't worry about is DLX's ability to protects its Gross Margins... titanium dioxide prices high or low, oil price high or low, A$ weak or strong... it matters not to DLX's margins because of the company's leading market position and significant pricing power.