Rising costs have forced the world's leading ink manufacturers to raise their prices. Sun Chemical announced increases of three to seven per cent on all packaging inks and coatings, effective Nov 1, 2004. Flint Ink North America increased its packaging ink prices ranging from 5-7 per cent, effective December 1, 2004,
According to Michael Griem, Sun's corporate vp Europe: "There has been a steady rise in the cost of all our raw materials, which have spiked in recent months with the run-up in oil prices. Other leading factors contributing to rising costs have been environmental compliance, freight, packaging and inflationary operating cost increases. We also have seen prolonged shortages on some key materials where producers have either stopped or cut back production. Meanwhile, many products are on allocation and there is no price relief in sight."
Sean Mikaelian, vp, general manager of Flint's Packaging Division, confirms: "The on-going – in some cases, extreme – increased costs of raw materials make this price increase necessary. The supply shortages and resulting allocation are key factors that lead to this difficult decision. We will make every effort to minimize the impact of these increases on our customers' operations."
| Contacts |
| Sun Chemical Tel: +49 69 4000240 Flint Ink Tel: +1 734 622 6362 |
