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For ink manufacturers, the past few months have been pretty grim. Raw material prices have increased dramatically – as much as 50% in some instances – thanks to a limited supply of substances such as acrylic acid, a key material needed in the production of ink. A further blow has been dealt by chemical companies who have ramped up the price of base chemicals.
While manufacturers have absorbed some of this price inflation, it’s inevitable that they have had to pass some of these increases onto their customers, who also face their own set of problems.

The web offset market remains static with lower volumes in the commercial and publication markets, although recent reports suggest that volumes are slowly improving.

As a result of this combination of factors, there is very little change in the Buyer’s Guide tables in terms of new products hitting the market. It’s a situation that is unlikely to change in the short term at least, with further ink price rises inevitable thanks to the spiralling raw material costs, which show little sign of abating.

Volatile market
"Our perception is that the market for raw materials remains volatile. We are monitoring the trends closely so that we can inform our customers of any future changes as early as possible," says Nick Brannan, vice-president of product management, at Flint Group’s European print media division. "We do not foresee any relief in these upward trends, so further increases may very well be necessary," adds Brannan.

There may not be a vast amount of new products to choose from, but heatset inks remain the most commonly used type in the web offset sector. When using heatset inks, the printed image is passed through a dryer to evaporate the petroleum distillate in the ink. It then goes through chill rollers, which cool the web and set the ink.

At the other end of the scale coldset inks are primarily used for newspaper printing, but they’re also used in other markets such as direct mail, business forms and book printing, with long runs on uncoated stocks.

Regardless of whether or not you are using heatset or coldset inks, you will also need a host of supplementary consumables. The ink used has to be compatible with these consumables and, as a result, some printers find it easier to enter into a bundle deal, which may ultimately prove to be a more cost-effective route. However, you can also keep a
tight rein on costs if you opt for the right individual team of suppliers.

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WHAT'S NEW IN WEB OFFSET INKS
? Earlier this month, Flint Group increased the price of its heatset and coldest inks. As of 1 July, its heatset inks increased by €0.25 (£0.20) per kg, coldset black by €0.15 per kg and coldset colours by €0.25 per kg. ‘Output is key and a lot of people have downsized. Demand has been outstripped and this is driving up prices," explains Flint’s Nick Brannan. The ink manufacturer also blamed rising raw material costs for the recent 6-7% increase in the cost of its packaging inks. Last September, the company launched one of the few new web offset inks to hit the market over the course of the last 12 months. Flint claims its Premoking heatset ink reaches water balance quickly, generates less paper waste and provides more uninterrupted press revolutions
? At Ipex, Druckfarben and Shackell Edwards exhibited together for the first time after ink supplier Druckfarben purchased the business and certain assets of Shackell Edwards & Co last year
?    In April, former Graphoprint staff formed a commercial web print company, the first web start-up for at least 10 years. Grapho Media is an independent commercial web printer that will concentrate on commercial, press finished and sheeted work. It is based in Deeside Industrial estate, North Wales, the same estate at which Graphoprint was based
The business is made up mainly of former Graphoprint staff with Neil McRae as managing director, Vic Rollinson as sales and marketing director, Harry Gould as production director and Andy Edwards as manufacturing director.