Publication ink market (I)

Faced with the increase in raw materials and operating costs and the growing demand for new technologies, leading ink manufacturers are trying to increase prices.

In recent years, the publications ink market in the world has been greatly affected by the economy. The recent increase in the price of key raw materials has affected the use of solvents and other raw materials in thermosetting inks and newspapers and inks.
Even in such cases, any loosening of ink prices, especially thermoset inks, is still not seen. According to a NAPIM survey, the first six months of 2005 were a difficult time for thermoset ink manufacturers. In the first half of 2005, the output of thermoset inks was 2.7% higher than the same period in the first half of 2004, but sales were Declined by 1.7%.

The transitional saturation of the thermoset ink market is a major obstacle to price increase. In fact, printers are still in the buyer's market.

In September 2005, Flint Ink and Sun Chemical announced that they would substantially increase their prices. Flint announced that it would raise the price of thermoset ink by 12%, and Sun Chemical announced that it would raise prices by 9-12%. As transportation costs increase, additional surcharges will also be charged. Whether these price increases can be maintained is still a problem. But even if these companies win the price increase, the increase in the price of finished ink still cannot make up for the increase in the cost of raw materials.

When the United States Flint Ink and XSYS Printing Ink Company merged to become the world's second largest ink producer, the publication ink industry is also in a phase of change. The main business direction of the merged new company is the publication ink industry, and Europe will be the market it will occupy. In Europe, the company will become the leader of newspaper and ink producers and the second largest manufacturer of plastisol ink.

the past year
In the past year, the publication ink market has witnessed some growth, and prices are still the biggest concern for manufacturers.

According to Mark J. Levin, president of Sun Chemical's North American publication ink division, the overall development of the North American publication ink market in the past year has been flat, with only slight growth in some parts. The total consumption of ink has increased slightly, but the price has been declining until the recent increase in raw materials and operating costs forced ink producers to announce a price increase before the price rebounded, precisely because of the rapid and continuous rise in the price of crude oil. Only the price of ink raw materials that require crude oil derivatives has been continuously rising.

Mr. Mike Green, vice president of Flint Ink's North American Publishing and Printing Division and general manager of the North American newspapers and inks division, believes that North America’s publication ink market as a whole has seen a small increase due to limited growth in the book and direct mail markets.

Thermoset inks also have some growth, especially in the product catalog and magazine industry, but advanced technology is also gaining share.

Mr. Green said, “In the past year, advertising investment has steadily increased, magazine market has also grown considerably, and the product catalog industry has grown. However, competitive technology makes our future industry advertising revenue more variable.”

Mr. Levin pointed out that industry data shows that advertising revenue has increased while advertising pages have decreased. The strength of one of the five major media communications companies in the world Zenith/Optimedia predicts that advertising spending in 2005 will increase by 4.3%. However, Canada's Merrill Lynch predicts that most of these increased inputs have shifted from the printing industry to electronic media. Consumer magazine spending rose, but revenue from trade publications continued to decline.

Chris Morrissey, vice president of solar chemistry, believes that most of the rest of the world is facing a similar situation to the publishing industry. Even in fast-growing developing countries, such as China and India (where there is a large demand for printed publications), there is almost no over-expectation because the publishing industry in these countries also faces competition from electronic media.

Mr. Green said, “Similar to the North American market, the global publishing market is facing challenges. Fortunately, there are new growth markets, such as India, Eastern Europe and China.”

Regarding the intaglio publication, Mr. Levin believes that the use of gravure printing will gradually shrink with the continuous retirement of older generation machines. Some of these gravure printing will play a role in retail advertising. Consumer goods manufacturing companies are localizing their advertising designs, which will increase the number of small-volume prints and make gravure printing less competitive.

Mr. Green said that relative to the gentle development of gravure printing, some new types of equipment are being installed, and the growth of this part of the business will be optimal.