GERMANY • At the end of 2017, the company group announced that increased, incremental cost escalation has forced the Flint Group to raise the prices of its packaging inks products, effectice 1 January 2018.
Price inflation has been witnessed in polyethylene and polyethylene resins, titanium dioxide, pigments, key solvents, glycerine and MMAs; all these feedstocks affect the cost base of both solvent-based and water-based inks and coatings. To highlight a few specific examples:
– Numerous pigment production facilities in China have been ordered to close, awaiting environmental inspection
– Glycerine prices in 2018 are expected to be 80-90% higher than 2017
– Key solvents are under pressure due to outages and tight material supply
– Persistent tightening of and price escalation in the Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) market.
Q3 2017 saw significant increases and supplementary rises were announced for Q4 2017. Current forecasts indicate that the price pressure will not lessen as the industry moves into 2018. These unique cost burdens necessitate that Flint Group Packaging Inks raise prices globally as of 1 January 2018. Argumentation is discussed below and their sales representatives are currently in the market discussing the magnitude of increases for each customer and segment.
Further to announcements made in March 2017, it has become clear that the raw material markets for many components within Flint Group’s packaging inks products have experienced price escalation, so the company explains. Many raw material markets remained highly volatile at the end of 2017.