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Flint Group Packaging announces global price increase

Flint Group Packaging is increasing the price of its ink and coating products from April 1, 2021.

The company is facing an extraordinarily turbulent set of supply chain conditions, exacerbated by the global pandemic. Costs are increasing and supply is tightening across almost all procurement categories: multiple petrochemical derivatives, such as resins and solvents, pigments, and freight, are three of the most volatile areas.

Doug Aldred, president of Flint Group Packaging Inks notes, “The unusual set of supply chain conditions currently witnessed are some of the most severe I have seen. Our business is facing substantial cost and availability headwinds, across multiple raw material categories. Resins, solvents, and pigments (including titanium dioxide), are particularly problematic.”

Flint Group Packaging continues to collaborate with all its global supply chain partners to mitigate as many negative effects as possible. However, recent upstream force majeure announcements and the acute global freight imbalance is impeding some corrective actions.

The business continues to invest in its assets, capabilities and operating procedures to negate the adverse supply chain circumstances, wherever feasible. Nonetheless, it has become clear that these activities alone will not suffice; the company will seek to recover costs via a combination of extensive productivity optimisations, price increases, and temporary surcharges.

New products

In another news, Flint Group introduces EkoCure Ancora Dual Cure food contact material (FCM) UV-curable ink for food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic label and flexible packaging applications.

The compatibility of EkoCure Ancora Dual Cure with both UV-LED and mercury UV systems enables converters to make a gradual switch to LED. For example, by upgrading the press one curing lamp at a time, thereby lowering the financial risk and limiting downtime for refurbishment.

UV-LED curing offers increased production time as lamps do not require warming or cooling before and after operation. Speed increases of up to 25 per cent are possible, thanks to faster curing times.

Additionally, for brand owners, the assurance of an effective migration barrier, made possible by the ink in combination with the substrate, may facilitate the move to lighter, easier-to-handle packaging. For example, a change from glass to film, such as pouches or blister packs, may deliver supply chain savings.

EkoCure Ancora Dual Cure inks are formulated at the same strength as their pure mercury-curable counterparts, making colour-matching simple when switching to the new ink. Further, it is possible to run the Dual Cure inks, inline with existing pure mercury-curable inks, in different positions on the press for the same job, without compromising quality. This reduces inventory waste when switching to the new ink, as existing stocks can continue to be used in the normal way until they are ready to be replaced with new dual cure inks.

The series comprises an extensive offering of flexo shades, metallics, and coatings. These include yellow, transparent yellow, orange, red, violet, blue, and an opaque white screen ink; gold and silver, as well as gloss and matte varnishes that provide resistance against yellowing.

Flint Group’s dual cure ink series is available for almost all narrow-web applications. Others include EkoCure F, for printing on almost all film and paper label stocks, as well as cartons and tags, and EkoCure XS for shrink sleeve labels.