Asia-Pacific is the largest market for printing ink, with Ink World estimating sales at more than $6.5 billion annually in the region. The region is also a significant producer of the key raw materials that are used for formulating inks. For ink manufacturers, raw material cost and availability are having an impact globally. It is also taking its toll in the Asia-Pacific market.

Masuyoshi Iwata, Printing Ink Products Division in DIC HQ, noted that titanium dioxide and photoinitiators are areas of concern for ink producers.

“Tight supply availability for titanium dioxide (TiO2) due to a force majeure has had an impact on the price and supply ability of white ink,” said Iwata. “Photoinitiators for UV inks are also in tight supply. There is also a general trend of raw material price increases, which has, in turn, led to ink price increases.”

Yuichi Kataura, International Operations Division’s GM, executive officer at Sakata INX, and Hirofumi Ozaki, president of Toka Ink International (Hong Kong) Ltd., both noted that these pressures are being caused by stricter environmental regulations, particularly in China.

“China’s tightening of environmental regulations resulted in a shortage in supply of pigments that are used as a main raw material, causing the raw material price to increase,” said Kataura. “In addition, resin, solvent, and other prices are also increasing due to increase in oil and naphtha prices.”

“It is difficult for us to purchase the raw materials from China as environmental regulations have become stricter over there,” added Ozaki.

Raw materials have been a major concern worldwide, and Chinese ink manufacturers are not immune from these matters.       
Bauhinia Variegata Ink & Chemicals, a subsidiary of Yip’s Chemical, is China’s largest ink producer and the 14th largest global ink manufacturer in the world, with sales of $180 million in 2017, according to Ink World’s Top International Ink Companies report (July/August 2018). They are also facing pricing pressure.

“The rise in raw material prices have created pressure on our gross margin,” a Bauhinia Variegata spokesperson reported. “Riding on our long-term and well-established relationship with our suppliers, we are able to ensure a secure source of raw materials.”

“Due to stricter environmental regulations, raw material manufacturers’ plants are being closed and/or suspended from production causing the supply of raw materials to become unstable,” Sakata INX’s Kataura noted. “Some small-mid size ink makers cannot resume production, and end up having to close their site and/or going bankrupt.”

Haruhiko Akutsu, GM, Commercial and Publication Business Department, Global Business Division, Toyo Ink Co., Ltd., observed that finding and approving alternative ingredients is a challenge for ink suppliers.

“Selecting and qualifying alternative materials is not always possible, which has led to production and supply chain disruptions and difficulties in capturing growth opportunities,” Akutsu noted. “We, like most companies in our industry, have been taking actions to identify and evaluate alternative sources, broadening our geographic reach and diversifying supply. This means working closely with our suppliers, broadening our geographic reach, identifying and evaluating alternative materials.”

Charlie Lee, head of the Overseas Sales Department’s team at Daihan Ink Co., Ltd., said that China’s new regulations and the weakening US dollar are impacting skyrocketing price increases for raw material.

“But as a manufacturer, instead of a price increase, we are facing a lot of pressure for a price decrease,” Lee added. “On the Korean Peninsula, political issues between north and south Korea are getting stable. When it comes to exchanging rate, USD is weak. This means, we have less Korean won after export, which is not good for us. So, to offset, we were expecting that importer’s USD is weak too, so that they can import without any difficulty for the exchange rate, but strangely for them, the USD is strong. This is our double difficulty.”