The new low-migration sheetfed ink was launched on 1 October and is intended for label printing without direct food contact. It is derived from vegetable oil rather than mineral oil.

Flint has identified North America, South America, China and India as markets with potential for growth for in-mould labelling (IML) applications, while Europe remains the biggest established market.

“There is a growing demand for attractive differentiated packaging, especially in the developing markets of Asia and South America,” said Flint Group Sheetfed marketing director Peter Baird.

“Our distribution channels in these regions, both direct and through distributors, mean that we can offer the exact same product globally. This makes an attractive proposition for multinational print companies, which are a perfect fit for the IML print community.

“Standardised, reliable, high-quality products make their purchasing decision a lot easier.”

Over the past five years, global IML production has grown at around 4% per year, due to increasing technological capabilities, according to Flint Group. It said the ink has “very high colour strength”, along with dot sharpness and fast, oxidative drying, and it also offers improved adhesion, scratch resistance and versatility in extreme hot or cold temperatures.

Novastar D joins Flint’s growing family of IML products, which includes its Novaset 4940/40 IML coating and the UltraCura Sense and UltraCura Sens Plas UV curing ranges, with more developments planned for next year.

Baird added: “In the UK, IML is a relatively consolidated market with few players, but we are in good contact with the sector and we're confident that this product will be a successful addition to our UK portfolio.

“Flint Group is constantly investigating and investing in customer needs. Our pipeline of new and innovative products is well stocked and we will be launching many new products in 2018, some of which will be suitable for the IML print sector.”