11.15.10
Sun Chemical is announcing an immediate 25 percent price increase for all its products containing the raw material pigment Violet 23. The increase is due to cost of the pigment going up by 70 percent in the past 12 months with further increases expected, according to the company. Supply of Violet 23 started to become an issue at the end of 2009 when availability of Carbazole, the key material from which Violet 23 is produced, started to reduce in China and India. Carbazole is only used in the pigment industry, but coal tar, from which Carbazole is produced, is used widely in other industries thus limiting the amount available to manufacture Carbazole. The knock on effect being that the pigment industry has minimal control over the cost and supply of Carbazole, the company said.
"With raw material shortages currently a common theme throughout the industry, Sun Chemical is working hard to offset the impact of cost increases, but it has now become essential to implement a price increase for all products containing Violet 23," said Felipe Mellado, chief marketing officer of Sun Chemical. "The majority of ink products affected are in the liquid inks market, but significant volumes are also used in conventional sheetfed and UV inks. We are doing all we can to work with leading pigment suppliers to manage this situation to lessen the impact to our customers."
"With raw material shortages currently a common theme throughout the industry, Sun Chemical is working hard to offset the impact of cost increases, but it has now become essential to implement a price increase for all products containing Violet 23," said Felipe Mellado, chief marketing officer of Sun Chemical. "The majority of ink products affected are in the liquid inks market, but significant volumes are also used in conventional sheetfed and UV inks. We are doing all we can to work with leading pigment suppliers to manage this situation to lessen the impact to our customers."