Press vendors warn of price rises

News Digest: Week commencing 24th May 2021 – a quick run through of all the stories from this week that didn’t merit a post in their own right, including price rises, a new ink factory and several new packaging press installations.

Heidelberg has announced ‘moderate’ price rises for all its equipment with immediate effect in response to a sharp rise in material, logistics, and other procurement costs, as CEO Rainer Hundsdörfer explains: “Primarily due to the high demand from China as well as the global megatopic of electromobility, procurement costs have risen significantly in the short term. In recent months we have exhausted all possibilities to avoid an imminent price increase. We want to grow together with our customers and continue to be a reliable partner to them in a changing market environment. The moderate price increase that is now necessary will allow us to further expand our innovation leadership and is therefore also an investment in the future.”

Prices are rising for many raw materials, including metal, as a result of logistical challenges created by the pandemic.

This has been swiftly followed by a similar announcement from Koenig and Bauer, also citing shortages in raw materials including metals, plastic and even wood, together with higher shipping and logistics costs. Koenig and Bauer also mentioned the global chip shortage, which is leading to reduced capacities and long lead times for industrial customers. 

In contrast, Inktec Europe has said that it will keep its prices at the current levels for 2021, as Inktec has prioritised production efficiencies throughout the pandemic and has been able to absorb rising costs in raw materials. Joey Kim, Managing Director of InkTec Europe, explains: “Unlike other manufacturers who may outsource inks and related parts; InkTec’s South Korean research, development and production plant uses our own technology and vast experience in the large format arena. This control has enabled us to tightly manage the processes and associated costs over the last year, which is why we are keen to ensure that this equally does not affect our ink pricing structure.” 

HuberGroup has opened a new state-of-the-art production plant in the Wroclaw area in Poland to produce water-based Acrylac varnishes and solvent-based Gecko inks for flexography and gravure printing. It also has dosing lines for offset inks including UV inks as well as the Tinkredible series, which is designed for printing on metal. Previously the Wroclaw site was used as a local service hub but with this investment it is now hubergroup’s third production plant in Europe – next to plants in Celle in Germany and Bolzano Vicentino in Italy.

Nazdar has extended an agreement with Halic Technology, based in Shenzen in China, which will now distribute Nazdar’s full range of screen ink solutions to customers in China, having supplied Nazdar’s LED UV inks since 2019. Halic Technology also supplies screens, plate-making materials, industrial films, equipment and other ancillary products to clients in the Chinese printing market. The company also has strategic partnerships in place with a wide range of other companies both in China and overseas, including businesses specialising in touch screens, photoelectric displays, LCD, solar photovoltaic, mobile phones, automobiles, home appliances and surface decoration.

Meanwhile, Todd Zimmerman has joined EFI as vice president and general manager of Display Graphics, reporting directly to Scott Schinlever, chief operating officer for EFI Inkjet. Zimmerman was previously division president and corporate VP of Fujifilm Global Graphic Systems US and before that worked in sales with Kodak Polychrome Graphics. It’s worth noting that several of EFI’s top team also worked for KPG, including the CEO Jeff Jacobson and CTO Doug Edwards. 

Cutting equipment specialist Polar is celebrating its 115-year anniversary throughout 2021 with some special offers, including a free copy of its Compucut Control software with every purchase of a N PRO HD cutter. 

New installations:

Multisac, located near Casablanca in Morocco, has installed a new Evo XD press from Koenig & Bauer Flexotecnica. The Evo XD is a 1320 mm wide CI flexo press that can use both solvent and water-based inks and print to plastic films, very thin and sensitive ‘breathable’ LDPE or laminated materials as well as papers.

Multisac was founded in 2006 and produces almost 1 million units of flexible packaging that is exported to 21 countries. general manager Mehdi Iraqi commented: “We are convinced that Koenig & Bauer is the ideal partner to help us meet the high expectations we have of ourselves. The outstanding technology that the Evo XD offers will enable us to set new standards for the packaging segment.”

Elsewedy, an Egyptian packaging printer based in the Sharqia Governorate just outside Cairo, has invested in an HP Indigo 12000 digital press to help it expand into the growing market of high-value, high-impact short-run packaging printing, as well as to target new applications such as security printing, metalised boxes and photo albums.

Elsewedy’s owner, Medhat Elsewedy said, “With the acquisition of the HP Indigo 12000, we have the ability to cater to this changing environment of shorter runs, faster turnaround times, and the constant demand for innovation. This press is the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa, and we are thrilled to be able to drive the innovation in the Egyptian market for our customers”.

American printer Chromatic Labels, based in Irvine, California, has expanded with a new manufacturing facility as well as a new 8-colour Nilpeter FA-26 label press. This is a 660mm wide press designed to print with water-based and solvent inks, with UV, LED, and E-beam processes. 

Mark Gaw, Vice-President and General Manager of Chromatic Labels, commented: “We are very excited with the purchase of this new state-of-the-art, mid-web flexographic press, which is scheduled to be up-and-running by the end of August.


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