The war on Iran is pushing up costs for printers around the globe as the rising price for oil hits raw materials widely used in printing inks.
Huber and Sun Chemical have issued statements announcing Iran related price increases. Ink manufacturers association Eupia points out that with oil at more than $100 a barrel, the price of for solvents, binders resins and additives derived from petrochemicals, have also increased sharply.
Production costs are set to increase as energy becomes more expensive, other products face longer shipping times or higher air freight costs as shippers attempt to avoid the war zones.
Eupia is collecting information from members in order to monitor how availability and costs are changing. Eupia director Cornelia Tietz says: “Eupia is in active dialogue with its members and partner associations to track the evolving impact of this situation on our sector. We are committed to keeping members informed and to advocating for the conditions that support supply security for European printing ink producers.”
In turn ink producers are keeping a tight rein on their supply chain. Sun Chemical explains: “We are in close contact with our suppliers and service providers to identify product production risks and to assess how to mitigate cost increases to the greatest extent possible. Despite our continuous effort, the cumulative increases of costs, fees, and expenses, caused by aforementioned factors outside our control, necessitate price increases and surcharges to safeguard supply continuity and maintain quality and service standards.”
It is contacting customers directly with the specifics of the price increases and surcharges.
Huber’s statement stresses the importance of stability in its supply chain in order to “keep our manufacturing hubs running” and so maintain supply to customers without disruption. But prices are rising. “We are currently observing multiple inflationary effects propagating across various value chains. These dynamics – driven by fluctuating shipping rates, logistics capacity constraints, and shifting raw material costs – remain highly volatile and difficult to predict with precision at this stage. Because these costs are mounting and dynamic in nature, we shall most likely have to adjust our pricing in due course to reflect the shifting market realities.”
This it says will mean weekly updates to customers and communications from sales networks.
