Printing Supplier Raises Ink Prices, Again

Four to 6 percent hike second in two months.

By Joanna Pettas
07/09/2008

Printing and packaging supplier Flint Group North America has announced its second price hike—this one ranging from 4 to 6 percent—in less than two months, effective for products billed on or after July 21. As with the previous hike, Flint attributes the rise in prices to increased costs of raw materials like pigments and chemicals, as well as freight and packaging.

“Although the price hikes are difficult for businesses to manage, the larger issue is to proactively ensure ongoing supply of the critical raw materials,” Diane Parisi, Flint’s vice president supply chain for North America, said in a statement.

The company also will place a 6-cent-per-pound surcharge on water-based inks, coatings and extenders, as well as a 10-cent-per-pound surcharge on solvent, energy curable and past products.

In May, Flint announced 10- to 12-percent price increases to its publication inks. Magazines and catalogues make up the bulk of the company’s heatset products, a Flint Group spokesperson told FOLIO: at the time. The company, owned both privately and by private equity group CVC Capital Partners, posted $3.1 billion in revenues in 2007.