Consumables

Cost of Publication inks hit by raw material shortage

Tuesday 15. February 2011 - Due to ongoing raw material shortages and cost increases, Sun Chemical today announced an increase of a maximum of €0.25 per kg for all its Heatset, Coldset and Publication Gravure inks in Europe, effective March 1st.

With no stability in the cost, or the supply, of key raw materials used in the manufacture of these inks, Sun Chemical has taken the decision to adjust its prices in order to remain competitive in this segment.
The material supply figures and costs predicted by the industry for 2011 have been greatly surpassed with much larger increases passed on to ink manufacturers than expected.
For the majority of Heatset, Coldset and Publication Gravure customers this will be the second increase in 10 months which has become unavoidable due to an increasingly stressful supply situation.
The cost of key raw materials such as gum rosin is continuously being driven up by Chinese suppliers and is now more than three times the price compared to the start of 2009.
The other major driver for the increases in these segments is oil, which saw an increase of 28% in 2010 and a further 15% increase is expected in 2011. Materials such as gasoil and carbon black closely mimic the rise in crude.
Felipe Mellado, Chief Marketing Officer of Sun Chemical, comments: “the unprecedented volatility in the supply of raw materials is challenging the entire industry. Because of this, Sun Chemical now needs to review its prices continuously, to ensure profitability and product efficiency. As always, we are working very hard to offset as much of the raw material cost increases as possible, but with shortages continuing and in many cases deteriorating, this move has become unavoidable”.