Ink price rise on the way

Following news of cost increases in Europe, mnaufacturers in Australia have indicated a review of product prices is currently underway. Amid claims they are no longer able to absorb the soaring cost of raw materials, with petroleum singled out as particularly troublesome, the companies are preparing to push the first price rise in years through to the industry.

Jim Rogers, marketing manager of Flint Ink India Pacific, claims the utmost effort has been taken not to pass the costs onto customers. “We continue to take every measure to reduce costs through operational and manufacturing efficiencies, as well as leveraging our size and purchasing power to control raw material costs,” he says.

However, Rogers emphasises that, in the current market conditions, it is no longer possible for Flint Inks India Pacific to absorb further cost increases. “The reality of the matter is that our raw material costs have increased substantially in the last 12 to 18 months. A review of our costs is underway, and while nothing is settled as of yet, price increases may be necessary.”

This follows announcements of price rises this week from Xsys, the conglomerate that merged with Flint Ink last year to form the second largest ink manufacturer in the world. Heatset and gravure inks will both go up in cost from between 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent in January next year, or when existing contracts come to an end.

Wolfgang Blumschein, vice president and general manager of the Xsys Publication Division, claims the group has experienced double digit price increases for the vast majority of its raw materials, with some blowing out by as much as 50 per cent over the past year.

“This year we have been faced with an historically unprecedented rise in all our costs which was totally unexpected,” says Blumschein. “The extent of the increase in costs, which over the previous weeks has intensified, is now obliging us to pass on price increases to our customers.”