European Coatings SHOW

Focus
12
Between price pressure
and product safety
The printing inks industry is facing serious challenges
The printing inks industry is confronted with challenges
ranging from price pressure and chemicals shortages to
product safety, legislation and sustainability issues. Nevertheless,
materials suppliers are striving to develop new
solutions for the industry. The session on printing inks will
present six interesting papers in this context.
Suppliers of raw materials
to the printing inks
industry worry about price
pressure, whereas customers
fret about security of
supply and product quality.
Given the shortages of basic
chemicals, the availability of
raw materials is posing a
headache for printing ink producers.
They also fear that
legislative measurements
“Product safety is the dominant topic in food packaging”
Dr. Martin Poppe, Clariant
Produkte (Deutschland)
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such as REACH will lead to
restrictions on, if not withdrawals
of, certain materials
on the market. Product safety
is the latest buzz phrase in
the packaging segment and
aims to increase consumer
protection; sustainability is a
big issue as well – as the industry
continues to arrive at
a common definition of what
constitutes a carbon foot-
Awareness of product safety in food packaging has risen,
says Dr. Martin Poppe, Head of Global Technical Marketing
Printing Inks, Clariant Produkte (Deutschland).
� What challenges are raw
material suppliers for the
printing inks industry currently
faced with?
Martin Poppe: Availability
of several key raw materials
for pigment production
and the corresponding cost
changes remain a major
challenge for the industry.
A typical example is carbazole,
a key ingredient of
print. All these trends will be
addressed in this session.
Dr. Ian Maxwell of Lubrizol
will talk about new additive
developments for radiationcurable
inks. Solubility parameters
are a useful guide
to the selection of additives,
particularly dispersants,
for complex ink formulations.
Maxwell and his colleagues
have studied a range
of chemistry options with a
view to improving dispersant
compatibility with UV monomers.
Improved solubilising
additives should help to overcome
industry issues, such
as how to improve gloss in UV
offset formulations.
“Pigment Violet 23”, which
is in such short supply in
the market that it is leading
to significant cost increases
and corresponding price
changes by pigment producers.
Continued low demand
visibility in many sub-segments,
combined with strict
cash management throughout
the value chain, is causing
high volatility. Producers
of solvents, resins and
additives are facing similar
shortages. It will be some
considerable time before
the value chain stabilises at
pre-crisis level.
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In his paper, Fábio Rosa, Oxiteno,
will discuss the advantages
of a new solvent system
for flexographic printing inks.
This new system comprises
esters and alcohols that substantially
reduce mass losses
by ensuring balanced evaporation
of solvents during the
printing process, compared
to conventional systems. According
to Rosa, this system
is able to replace traditional
solvents while maintaining
the characteristics of the
end paint and effecting a significant
reduction in solvent
emissions and VOC.
Product safety is the main
focus of Dr. Rob Veraart
from Keller and Heckman:
he will give a scientific view
of incidents involving inks
in food-contact materials.
In the last few years, there
have been several reports of
incidents in which printing
ink components migrated
� Which pigments for
printing inks are in most
demand from the food-packaging
industry?
Poppe: Product safety is
the dominant topic in food
packaging. Simply meeting
the purity criteria laid down
in legislation, e.g. regarding
heavy metals and primary
aromatic amines (PAAs), is
sometimes not enough. Special
applications such as retortable
pouches mean that
higher technical performance
is expected from the
pigment. For excellent overall
fastness properties or low
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The printing inks industry is confronted with challenges ranging from
price pressure and chemicals shortages to product safety, legislation and
sustainability issues
into food. Paul Gevaert of
Cytec Surface Specialties
will expand on this topic
� Find
migration, high-performance
pigments (HPPs) are the
products of first choice. This
is one of the reasons why demand
for HPPs has steadily
risen over the last few years.
� Which requirements regarding
product safety do pigment
suppliers have to meet?
Poppe: In Europe and North
America, there is a strong
awareness of product
safety in food packaging.
Guidelines are relatively
well established and compliance
is monitored by
various governmental and
with a lecture on energycurable
acrylates for foodpackaging
applications. ❘❚
complete programme and abstracts at:
www.european-coatings-show.com
non-governmental organisations.
In Asia, governments
are focusing increasingly on
food safety. For example, the
new Chinese GB9685-2008
strictly regulates the use
of additives, including pigments
in food containers and
packaging materials. One
consequence of this is that
toluenic printing inks are
being replaced by more ecologically
sound and safer ink
solutions. This global trend
towards more consumer protection
and stricter product
safety regulations will further
intensify in the future. ❘❚