The US headquartered manufacturer said that its attempts to offset the impact of aluminium price rises had come to a head and a rise in aluminium plate prices had become “necessary”.

The cost of aluminium – which is the most expensive component of printing plates – on the London Metal Exchange currently sits at $2,259.50 (£1,704) per tonne, up 12% since Kodak last raised its plate prices in September 2017. This time last year, aluminium was valued at $1,943 (£1,465) per tonne.

Kodak global public relations manager for print Gill Beard told PrintWeek: “Kodak has been absorbing significant increases in costs for raw materials that are used to produce its offset plates, most significantly aluminium. The magnitude of this impact has made it necessary to increase plate prices.

“We are exploring different business models to reduce the effect of aluminium volatility on our customers. There are also measures that our customers can take to offset the increase in plate prices."

Beard pointed to recycling of plates as a way customers could offset their own increasing costs. She also said customers using the manufacturer's Sonora process-free plates, which enjoyed a double-digit growth in sales for Q1 of 2018, were saving money through a reduction in chemical, water and electricity costs.

Kodak will communicate specific price increases to its customers worldwide “in the coming weeks”.

The company’s president of print systems John O’Grady said: “While Kodak has worked diligently to reduce its own costs to lessen the impact of aluminium, the delta has become too great for us to bear, while maintaining our brand promise as a supplier of quality plates to the industry.”

The announcement from Kodak comes exactly a week after Agfa Graphics announced a similar 10% hike in its own plate prices. Agfa’s UK managing director Eddie Williams described rocketing aluminium costs as “getting out of control”.