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Untitled-2 1 4/23/13 10:52 AM
10 www.inkworldmagazine.com May/June 2013
fresh INK
In his new position, Mr. Westrom takes
over the R&D facilities in West Chicago, IL.
He began working for INX International
in January 1988, and has served in many
capacities while earning several promo-
tions throughout the years. Mr. Westrom
also has earned recognition from his peers
in the industry. In 2011, he was honored by
the Chicago Printing Ink Production Club
as its Ink Person of the Year.
Rick has done a fantastic job for INX
International throughout his career, said
Rick Clendenning, president and CEO.
These two roles are very important, and
by having Rick handle the responsibilities
of these positions, it creates a great deal
of synergy in two important areas within
our company. He is looking forward to his
new position and working with the best
R&D staf in the industry.
EFI Mourns Passing of
Company Founder Ef Arazi
EFI mourns the passing of its founder and
frst CEO, Efraim Ef Arazi, who died
on his 76th birthday, April 14. Mr. Arazi
created his namesake company in 1988
after a pioneering, 20-year career as the
founder, president and CEO of the frst
Israeli high-tech frm, Scitex Corporation.
Mr. Arazi served as chairman, presi-
dent and CEO of Electronics for Imaging
(EFI) from 1988 until 1994, guiding the
business from modest beginnings, with 18
employees in North Beach, San Francisco.
Under his leadership and technical guid-
ance, EFI launched Fiery, the printing
industrys frst color server, in 1991. The
product was an immediate success, lead-
ing to signifcant OEM partner contracts
with the worlds leading color printer
manufacturers. Mr. Arazi completed an
initial public ofering for EFI in 1992. In
1994, Fortune magazine named EFI the
nations fastest-growing public company.
We are all deeply saddened by the
passing of our founder and one of the
most infuential leaders in the history of
our industry, and we send our sympathies
and condolences to Efs family, said Guy
Gecht, the current CEO of EFI. Though
no longer with us, Efs spirit of entrepre-
neurship, brilliant creativity and love of
innovation will always remain at EFI.
Mr. Arazi is widely considered to be
the father of Israels high-tech industry
for his role with Scitex. In the late 1960s,
Mr. Arazi also worked with NASA while
studying at MIT, developing the camera
used to broadcast the Apollo 11 moon
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Great Western Ink
Acquires Reno Ink
Great Western Ink announced the
successful acquisition of Reno Ink of
Reno, NV.
Effective immediately, Ken Oliver
will guide the Reno team during the
transition. Great Western Ink will
acquire Reno Inks business.
We are excited to have Reno Ink
join our growing family, said Keith
Voigt, president of Great Western Ink,
We think combining GWIs product
breadth and technical depth with Reno
Inks outstanding service reputation is
a winning combination for Reno Ink,
GWI, and most importantly the Reno
customers. As always, GWIs goal
is to humbly become the preferred
supplier to the independent printing
communities we serve and Reno Ink
will help us fulfll our mission in the
greater Reno area.
Great Western Ink has been a
great partner to us and it seemed a
logical next step for us. This change
will help strengthen Reno Inks span
of products, technical support and
overall service to our customers,
said Ken Oliver, president of Reno
Ink. I have always respected their
products, their service, and their
conduct in the market. I look forward
to helping my current customers
take full advantage of all GWI has to
offer. Keith has put together a strong
team that is dedicated to helping the
local community of printers. That is
what Reno Ink was all about. So this
is a natural ft.
8-11 Fresh Ink 0513.indd 10 5/21/13 5:12 PM
May/June 2013 www.inkworldmagazine.com 11
fresh INK
landing in 1969.
Ink, Narrow Web Industries
Mourn Louis Werneke
Louis O. Werneke, Inky Lou, died on
March 31 2013. Mr. Werneke was born
June 23, 1926 and was married to the late
June Louise Werneke. He is survived by
his two children, Matthew Werneke and
Lisa Werneke Nelson; he lived to see and
enjoy eight grandchildren. Mr. Werneke
was preceded in death by his wife, June,
in 2008, and his brother, Skip, in 2003.
Mr. Werneke was a successful busi-
nessman and the founder of Werneke
Ink Company. He played a pivotal role
in shaping the narrow web tag and label
market, helping to build the industry as
it is today.
In 1973, Mr. Werneke began the de-
sign of the very frst water-based ink for
fexographic printing. He then made the
decision to dedicate time and energy to
develop a water-based system for label
printing. Mr. Werneke built a success-
ful global business, which remains a key
facet of Flint Group today.
Siegwerk Invests in Future
of Siegwerk Canada
Siegwerk Canada announces the open-
ing of its new facility in the Greater
Toronto Area (GTA).
We are expanding our sales, technical
service and distribution footprint in the
GTA to support growth, Dave Hiserodt
BU head, Flex Pack CUSA, said.
The new facility will allow Siegwerk
sales and service staf to provide a more
expedient service response for its exist-
ing and potential customer base in the
GTA. There will be the addition of lo-
cal blending capabilities and enhanced
warehouse space to allow for growth
and investment in the region. The sales
and distribution center currently located
in Laval, Quebec will remain to serve
Quebec-based customers.
Sensient Technologies
Announces Private
Placement Debt Transaction
Sensient Technologies Corporation
announced that it has entered into an
agreement with investors for the issu-
ance of $75 million and 38 million
in 10 year, fixed-rate, senior notes.
The debt will mature in November
2023. Proceeds from the offering will
be used to repay maturing notes and
bank debt.
This transaction allows the com-
pany to continue to strengthen its
capital structure, and do so at very
attractive rates, said Kenneth P.
Manning, chairman and CEO of
Sensient Technologies. We think
this is a good time to issue long-term
debt.n
8-11 Fresh Ink 0513.indd 11 5/21/13 5:12 PM
market watch
12 www.inkworldmagazine.com May/June 2013
Toyo Ink, EFI, Sensient and ALTANA Report Results
Toyo Ink SC Holdings Co., Ltd.
announced the third quarter fnancial
results for the fscal year ending March
31, 2013.
Net sales for the frst three quarters of
fscal 2012 (from April 1, 2012 to Dec. 31,
2012) were 187,189 million ($1.89 bil-
lion), a 0.9% over 2011s frst three quar-
ters. Operating income increased 25.9%
to 13,773 million ($139 million), while
net income was 6,102 million ($61.7
million), an increase of 4.6% compared
to the frst three quarters of 2011.
Sales in the Printing and Information
Business decreased to 56,150 mil-
lion($568 million), down 2.1% year on
year, but operating income increased
to 2,440 million ($24.7 million), up
144.3% year on year, as a result of cost-
cutting measures and higher sales of ad-
vanced products. Demand for ofset ink
in Japan remained stagnant, refecting the
delayed recovery of the economy as well
as a structural recession resulting from
the progress of digitization. However,
compared with the same period in the
previous fscal year, when business was
afected by voluntary advertising re-
straints due to the earthquake, demand
for commercial and newspaper printing
recovered.
Sales of advanced products increased,
including products with high UV sen-
sitivity and inks for rotary ofset print-
ing, grew. Meanwhile, a slowdown of
the economies in China and Southeast
Asia resulted in sluggish sales growth, and
earnings were hurt mainly by the escalat-
ing price competition and higher labor
costs.
Toyo Ink noted that sales in the over-
all Packaging Business were 42,607
million ($430.7 million), up 1.5% year
on year. Operating income was 1,876
million ($19 million), up 40.4% year on
year. Mainstay gravure inks for packag-
ing remained sluggish, although they
recovered slightly in the second half.
Sales of eco-friendly inks for packaging
increased in China and Southeast Asia
and demand for gravure inks for con-
struction materials remained strong in
North America.
Electronics For Imaging, Inc.
(EFI) announced its results for the frst
quarter of 2013.
For the quarter ended March 31,
2013, the company reported frst quar-
ter record revenue of $171.4 million,
up 7% compared to frst quarter 2012
revenue of $160.1 million. First quarter
2013 non-GAAP net income was $15.8
million or $0.33 per diluted share, which
included an unfavorable non-operational
currency impact of $0.04 per diluted
share, compared to non-GAAP net in-
come of $14.2 million for the same pe-
riod in 2012. GAAP net income was
$8.4 million or $0.17 per diluted share,
compared to $6.2 million for the same
period in 2012.
The EFI team delivered a great frst
quarter with revenue growth above our
expectations, a solid increase in proft-
ability, and very strong cash generation,
said Guy Gecht, CEO of EFI.
Sensient Technologies Corporation
reported diluted earnings per share of 43
cents for the three months ended March
31, 2013, which includes restructuring
costs of 19 cents per share. As adjusted,
to remove the impact of the restructur-
ing costs, diluted earnings per share were
62 cents, an increase of 6.9% over the 58
cents reported in the frst three months
of 2012, and a record for the frst quarter.
Consolidated revenue of $366 million
in the frst quarter was unchanged from
the prior year. Operating income was
$36.3 million. The companys operating
margin, as reported, was 9.9%.
I am very pleased with the companys
performance in the frst quarter, said
Kenneth Manning, chairman and CEO
of Sensient Technologies. We will re-
main focused on improving proftability,
and our restructuring program will en-
hance this efort. I am very optimistic
about the companys future.
The Color Group reported revenue
of $127.9 million in the frst quarter of
2013, compared to $132.3 million in the
comparable period last year. The Groups
operating margin for the frst quarter
increased to 20.3%, from 19.5% in last
years frst quarter. Strong performances
in industrial inks and the food and bev-
erage businesses in Latin America and
Brazil contributed to the operating mar-
gin improvement.
ALTANA announced that it increased
its sales and earnings again in 2012.
ALTANA increased sales by 5% to
1.7 billion in the business year 2012.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depre-
ciation and amortization (EBITDA) also
grew by 5%, reaching 323 million. At
19%, the EBITDA margin remained at
a high level.
In 2012, we proved once again that
we are able to achieve proftable growth,
even in a rapidly changing environment,
said Dr. Matthias Wolfgruber, CEO of
ALTANA AG. This was possible be-
cause we have implemented our growth
strategy consistently and acted fexibly.
The BYK Additives & Instruments
division increased sales 6% to 618 mil-
lion in 2012. At 341 million, sales in the
ECKART Efect Pigments division was
2% down on the previous year.
The highest sales increase in 2012 was
achieved by the ACTEGA Coatings &
Sealants division. At 334 million, sales
were up 12% on the previous year. This
development was driven by the acquisi-
tion of the Colorchemie Group in mid-
2011. n
12 Market Watch 0613.indd 12 5/20/13 1:55 PM
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Project2:Layout 1 1/20/09 11:29 AM Page 1
14 www.inkworldmagazine.com May/June 2013
european report
BY SEAN MILMO
EUROPEAN EDITOR
Competition for European Pigment
Market Continues to Increase
I
t is a difcult time for many manufacturers and distributors
of pigments to printing ink producers in Europe, not only
because of poor demand due to an economic slowdown in
the region but also increasing regulatory pressures.
At the same time, ink producers want higher and more con-
sistent standards in pigments because they themselves are hav-
ing to meet tougher requirements from their customers for
improved quality controls.
Some pigment suppliers in Europe most of them based
in China and India or with production capacity in the two
countries are now facing the dilemma of whether to adapt to
harsher trading and regulatory conditions in Europe or to pull
out of the market altogether.
As a result, there is likely to be restructuring and more con-
solidation within the European printing inks pigments sector
mainly in its commodity section.
The difculties among suppliers were evident at the recent
European Coatings Show (ECS) at Nuremberg, Germany, at
which printing ink pigment producers and distributors were
participants.
What was noticeable, however, was that a relatively large
number of Chinese and Indian producers are determined to
stay in the Europes printing ink pigments sector despite the
regions current economic troubles. Ironically, at a time of static
growth in demand, this has made the market for commodity-
type products even more stressful.
Sales are going down, yet the competition is getting even
more intense, said one distributor of Chinese printing ink pig-
ments at the exhibition. Only a few years ago, it used to be
a comparatively easy market at least at the commodity end.
Now it has gotten much harder. A sizeable proportion of Asian
exporters want to stick it out. But they realize low prices are
not sufcient and are trying to improve reliability and back up
services.
However, there also seems to be a number of Asian suppliers,
particularly those based in China, whose resolve is weakening
under the strain. They are looking to the option of concentrat-
ing on their fast growing domestic sector and to the rapidly
expanding regional markets in Southeast Asia and the Far East.
You get the sense that changes in the structure of the
European market are imminent, said Samarjit Sathe, head of
marketing of Heubach Colour Pvt. Ltd., Baroda, India, a sub-
sidiary of Heubach GmbH. In the next fve years, a number of
smaller Asian players in commodity pigments will pull out of
the region or merge with bigger producers.
Reacting to Market Changes
Restructuring moves are already being made by European
players. BASF announced in April that it is reorganizing its pig-
ments and resins business unit, which produces printing ink
pigments, mainly high performance grades.
The company is scaling down some of its printing ink pig-
ment activities in Europe, particularly those based in Basel,
Switzerland, so that management of pigment product quality
and safety in Europe can be concentrated in BASFs headquar-
ters at Ludwigshafen, Germany.
European producers are making their operations leaner in
response to a static domestic market. Demand in Europe has
been showing little or no growth for the last few years, and is
unlikely to pick up signifcantly in the near future.
The printing ink pigments market in Europe was pretty
fat last year, and looks likely to continue to be fat through to
at least next year, said Philippe Verhelle, product and marketing
manager at Cappelle. There has been some small temporary
increases in demand over the last few months when customers
can no longer rely on their own stocks and have to buy again.
There have also been some segments where there has been
underlying growth, like inks for digital printing and packaging,
especially food packaging.
These are segments where customers require high perfor-
mance, often innovative, pigments, which have been manufac-
tured in conditions of rigorous quality control. But even these
have been subject to fuctuations in demand.
Clariant reported that its pigment sales plummeted last year
to levels below those of 2008-09. There was even a decrease
in its sales of its pigments for digital inks, which the company
has pinpointed as a niche with a potential for growth due to
high technological barriers. Sales had been depressed by weak
demand and stock reductions among key customers, it said.
Nonetheless, even in a year of relatively frail demand,
14-16 europe 0513.indd 14 5/20/13 1:57 PM
Untitled-5 1 4/4/13 4:24 PM
16 www.inkworldmagazine.com May/June 2013
european report
Clariants pigments operation was one of the companys most
proftable businesses, with a sales margin of close to 17% last
year against 22% in 2011, based on earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).
BASF, another leading player in the upper end of the print-
ing ink pigments segment, has been continuing to focus its
R&D on high performance ink pigments, despite slimming
down some of its printing ink pigments operations,
The development of printing ink pigments will remain
interesting for us, said Stephan Suetterlin, head of BASFs pig-
ments business in Europe. The requirements regarding pu-
rity, color strength and particle size distribution of pigments
for digital printing are constantly increasing. For new pack-
aging technologies, heat resistance is becoming more impor-
tant. Therefore we believe that high-performance pigments are
gaining share from classical pigments.
Some leading players have also been expanding in the efect
pigments sector, where there have been shifts in demand due
to changes in consumer taste. There has, for example, been a
swing away from the glittering, shimmering appearances to a
more muted, matte look, which requires changes in the shape
and size of metallic pigments.
Sun Chemical and its parent company DIC of Japan last
year acquired Benda-Lutz Werke GmbH of Austria. With pro-
duction plants in Austria, Poland, Russia as well as the U.S.,
the acquisition considerably strengthens Sun Chemicals global
position in efect pigments in the graphics markets.
This acquisition gives us more opportunities to diferenti-
ate our printing ink pigments, which is even more important
in a fat market, said Mehran Yazdani, vice president and gen-
eral manager, Sun Chemical Performance Pigments, Electronic
Materials, and DIC International, at the ECS exhibition. We
have more fexibility in our ability to meet customers require-
ments for tailor-made solutions and to respond to changes in
demand, like the need for matte fnishes.
Except in some niche, high performance segments, printing
ink pigment prices have been softening in the face of weak de-
mand. At the same time, however, proftability has been further
squeezed by a continued rise in raw materials costs.
Many of these increases stem from economic and environ-
mental trends in China, which has a virtual monopoly on the
supply of some key intermediates for production of bulk or-
ganic pigments. Market conditions in India, also a major pro-
ducer of some raw materials, also have had an impact on costs.
In its latest raw materials outlook, Flint Group warned that
stricter environmental laws, particularly those on treatment
of wastewater efuent, were pushing up raw material costs in
China and India.
Closure of capacity due to stricter environmental rules was
also causing shortages of key intermediates, like beta naphthol for
red pigments. The cost of intermediates for yellow pigments was
being pushed up by a combination of feedstock shortages and
the higher cost of basic raw materials like benzene and toluene.
Hikes in raw material costs are also afecting producers of
bulk inorganic pigments like titanium dioxide (TiO
2
), whose
prices, until last year, had been rising steeply in Europe and in
much of the rest of the world.
For a while, higher TiO
2
prices have been giving produc-
ers of the pigments their highest profts for many years. But
these have steadily been eroded over the last two years by rising
prices for the raw materials like titanium and ilmenite, mainly
because of a lack of adequate investment by mining companies
in their extraction.
Around the middle of last year, TiO
2
prices began to fatten,
and even in the last months of 2012 started declining. But costs
of raw materials for the white pigment continued to go up.
Faced with the prospect of weakening selling prices and
persistent rises in raw material costs, some producers have been
deciding to pull out of the business.
Sachtleben, Europes leading producer of specialty TiO
2
for printing inks and other niche sectors, which has been a
joint venture between Rockwood Holdings and Kemira, has
efectively been put up for sale. Rockwood last year bought
Kemiras minority stake in the company, although it had previ-
ously announced that TiO
2
was now a non-core business.
Rockwell last year recorded a 4% drop in TiO
2
sales at
Sachtleben from 784 million in 2011 to 731.5 million, but
the shrinking margins were refected in a 36% dive in EBITDA
from 258 million to 165 million. By the fourth quarter, the
margins contraction had accelerated, with EBITDA profts
plunging by 90% despite a 14% rise in sales.
REACH on the Horizon
In addition to rising raw material costs, pigment producers and
suppliers are also having to face higher costs of compliance
with tighter regulations in Europe.
The most prominent of these is REACH, the EUs legisla-
tion on the registration, evaluation and authorization of chemi-
cals, under which pigments and other substances or, if they are
compounds, their individual ingredients, have to be registered
with dossiers detailing their safety profles. If chemicals fail to
be registered, they have to be taken of the market.
A large number of pigment chemicals have had to be regis-
tered over the last few months to meet a deadline at the end of
May for the submission of dossiers. This is the second of three
registration deadlines, based on the total tonnages of chemicals
sold on the European market, with the last in mid-2018 for
chemicals with the lowest volumes.
Registration is expensive for us but even more expensive
for the smaller companies, said Mr. Yazdani. A lot of pro-
ducers, particularly Asian pigment exporters, will probably be
walking away from the European market by not registering
their products because of the high costs. n
European Editor Sean Milmo is an Essex, UK-based writer special-
izing in coverage of the chemical industry.
14-16 europe 0513.indd 16 5/20/13 1:57 PM
Untitled-9 1 4/2/13 12:36 PM
18 www.inkworldmagazine.com May/June 2013
Packaging Inks
BY DAVID SAVASTANO
EDITOR
DSAVASTANO@RODMANMEDIA.COM
The Packaging Ink Market
The market for packaging inks remains strong,
with water-based, solvent-based, sheetfed
and UV/EB inks all having their areas of growth.
T
he packaging feld remains the strongest area of growth
in printing, and the numbers of consultants and trade
associations appear to back this up. For example, in its
report, The Future of Packaging in North America to 2017,
Smithers Pira estimates that the North American packaging
industry had sales of $169.1 billion in 2012, with an estimated
growth to $186 billion by 2017.
In terms of segments, the Flexible Packaging Association
(FPA) estimates in its FPA Flexible Packaging Industry
Segment Profle Analysis that the U.S. fexible packaging mar-
ket was $26.7 billion in 2012. By contrast, the FPA reported
that 2001 fexible packaging sales in the U.S. were $19.5 billion,
or a nearly 37% growth rate during the past 11 years.
For corrugated printing, the Association of Independent
Corrugated Converters puts corrugated packaging sales at $21
billion for 2012. On the folding carton side, the Paperboard
Packaging Council estimates North American sales at $8.8
billion, with an average annual growth rate of 2.4% in sales
through 2016.
PCI Films Consulting calculates the overall global
fexible packaging market to be approximately
$80 billion.
In terms of printing ink, in
its 2013 State of the Industry
Report, the National
Association of Printing
Ink Manufacturers
(NAPIM) estimated
the U.S. liquid ink
market to be ap-
proximately $1 bil-
lion in 2012, with
more than two-
thirds being fexo
ink sales.
In other words,
packaging continues to be a major business, and for the most
part, packaging ink manufacturers are seeing growth in their
business.
Felipe Mellado, chief marketing ofcer, Sun Chemical, said
that Sun Chemical has seen moderate growth in 2012 and sim-
ilar growth in 2013 in the packaging market.
Sun Chemical will continue to see signifcant growth in
the fexible packaging segment, Mr. Mellado added. The
packaging market faces diferent challenges than other mar-
ket segments, such as migration, the push toward smaller pack-
age size, recyclability and other eforts to reduce the impact of
packaging on the environment, but these challenges are great
opportunities for growth at Sun Chemical. Were working with
brand owners and major packaging groups to provide them
with solutions for specialized packaging for the future.
The North American fexible packaging volumes remained
fat to slightly up compared to 2011, which could be character-
ized as resilient in the face of decreasing GDP and consumer
confdence as 2012 closed, said Deanna Whelan, global mar-
keting manager, packaging and narrow web
at Flint Group. With raw material
pricing coming back in line and
with the economic head-
winds subsiding, we expect
growth in 2013 more in
line with generally ac-
cepted CAGRs for
this segment. The
North American
paper and board
segment was fat
to slightly down
compared to
2011 for the
same reasons
but with the Photo courtesy of Wikoff Color.
18-22 Packaging 0513.indd 18 5/22/13 1:52 PM
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Untitled-6 1 2/19/13 11:48 AM
20 www.inkworldmagazine.com May/June 2013
Packaging Inks
added complication of a growing con-
sumer preference for the fexible form
factor.
Mark Hill, vice president of R&D for
INX International Ink Co., said that pack-
aging was very strong overall in 2012, par-
ticularly on the food side.
Food packaging was especially strong
with increased activity in that segment,
and it has carried over into the frst quar-
ter this year with positive results, Mr.
Hill said. The remaining markets, how-
ever, posted fat results or showed slight
declines.
With improvement in the overall
economy, printers are busier and their
backlogs are improving, said Daryl
Collins, vice president of sales and market-
ing for Wikof Color. They are using exist-
ing capacity to fll demand, but we do not
see capital investment in new presses pick-
ing up steam as yet. Our best growth this
year came in the label and fexible packaging markets.
The packaging business is growing and is strong in the
U.S., said John Copeland, president and COO, Toyo Ink
America, LLC. Globally there is growth in the packaging are-
na and many opportunities. A number of third world countries
are in the initial phases of transformation from non-packaged
food to packaged products. Thats the good news.
It has been steady to slight growth, said Rob Callif, vice
president, BCM Inks.
Key Growth Opportunities
Packaging encompasses a wide range of products, from foods to
electronics and much more. Not surprisingly, ink manufactur-
ers see certain products growing faster than others. Ms. Whelan
noted that fexible packaging and labels are strong growth areas.
The converted fexible packaging segment is attractive and
growing, Ms. Whelan said. Within fexible packaging, lami-
nation structures that ofer improved protection and shelf life
will grow above rates associated with the main segment. Label
markets like shrink, IML and heat transfer (wide and narrow
web) are also estimated to grow at attractive rates.
Mr. Copeland also sees fexible packaging as a strong growth
market.
Although relatively small at this moment, more pouch
printing will make inroads into the folding carton markets, Mr.
Copeland added. More companies are looking for innovation
in packaging, and fexible packaging ofers a variety of interest-
ing options.
Mr. Hill believes that food packaging ofers the best
opportunities.
I think the biggest growth market will continue to be food
packaging, Mr. Hill said. Paper and pa-
perboard packaging are stable in certain
markets, but plastic packaging is trending
upwards at a much faster rate. We are see-
ing customers investing in equipment for
the fexible packaging markets that were
not players in that segment previously.
We feel the graphic corrugated market
and digital print market ofer tremendous
growth opportunities due to the growing
interest in brand color management and
short runs, Mr. Callif said.
Overall, we are seeing an increased fo-
cus on the various regulatory legislations
worldwide that are driven by large CPGs,
such as Nestle and the Swiss Ordinance
adoption, said Tony Renzi, vice president,
product management packaging, North
American Inks, Sun Chemical.
In the near term, we expect continued
growth in the label, fexible packaging, ink-
jet and export markets, Mr. Collins said.
Raw Materials
The ink industry has been heavily impacted by rising raw ma-
terial costs and supply concerns in recent years, but the past
year has seen a stabilization in these areas, albeit at a higher
level than before.
In general, raw material costs have stabilized, Ben Price,
director of purchasing for Wikof Color, said. Throughout
2010 and 2011, Wikof Colors raw material costs increased
drastically, and supply issues were numerous during this period.
There were shortages of titanium dioxide, nitrocellulose and
carbazole violet, to name a few. Rosin resin prices were another
signifcant concern during this time. In late 2011, prices for
most of our raw materials peaked, and we have experienced
moderate price decreases throughout 2012 and into early 2013.
Supply is not a concern for the majority of our raw materials
at this time.
For the most part, the raw materials have stabilized, Mr.
Callif said. However, there is continued consolidation within
the supplier market, which will afect price and supply.
In general, at Sun Chemical we see a continuation of the
current moderation trend in the raw materials market this
year, said Ed Pruitt, chief procurement ofcer, Sun Chemical.
Although we have not recently experienced the widespread
shortages and allocations that plagued the industry two years
ago, the raw material supply chain is a continuing concern to
Sun Chemical. A sharp uptick in demand from the emerging
markets or developed economies could quickly put products
like titanium dioxide, nitrocellulose, carbon black and some
pigments in very tight inventory positions. We also need to be
mindful of the potential impact of global weather conditions
Produced by Star Packaging Corporation,
the Eco Ultra Motor Oil Pouch received the
FPAs 2013 Gold Award for Environmental
& Sustainability Achievement.
18-22 Packaging 0513.indd 20 5/22/13 1:52 PM
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