Flint Group has raised the prices of spot color inks and overprint varnishes used in sheetfed and heatset applications by 8% and annouonced an additional price increase of $0.75 cents to $1.25 on press washes used in sheeted and web offset applications.
A company spokeswoman stressed to PrintWeek that the increases were for the North American market only, adding that the division has worked to ensure its customers know the reasons behind the move.
"We are absolutely in continual contact with our customers regarding raw material trends, including - and beyond - the current rising cost of crude," she said. "We strongly believe this is an important responsibility of any supplier."
The increases came in on 1 April subject to existing contracts and followed on the heels of the announcement that Flint Group was increasing prices of solvent based packaging inks and all packaging and narrow web white inks in North America.
In a press release, the company noted that in 2011 raw material costs were greater than their peak in 2008 - when oil topped $140 per barrel - adding that the trend has continued in 2012, with crude’s rising and volatile cost a key factor.
"The cumulative effect of all this cost pressure has had a tremendous impact," said Michael Kellen, Flint Group business director, Pressroom Chemicals, in a statement. "In addition to the increases on the feed stocks used to make pressroom consumables, the pressure is adversely affecting costs on product containers, utilities and freight."
Dr. Ron Davis, vice president and chief economist for the Printing Industries of America (PIA), noted to PrintWeek: "With the competitive situation of the printing industry it’s going to hard for printers to pass on those costs, although if you’re customer-focused and have a really good relationship with your customers you may be in a little better position to do that."
While any increase in production costs — and decline in margins — is bound to have some impact, Davis suggested this one may be easier to take than say a rise in paper costs. "It always hurts, but ink's not a big expense item for printers," he added. "It depends on the printer of course, but it’s about 1.7% to 1.8% of total sales, so a 9% rise will mean less than a 0.2% rise in sales costs."
