David Savastano, Editor03.24.22
Resins play a critical role in ink formulation. They come in many different types, depending on the type of ink, and have their own particular characteristics they impart to a finished ink.
Dr. Ulrike Canella, head of product development sheetfed and UV for hubergroup, spoke about hubergroup’s selection of resins.
“We use rosin-based resins for our sheetfed inks because they are renewable materials,” Dr. Canella observed. “Most of the resins we use are modified at our sites in India, which is why we can guarantee high environmental standards in production. Rosin-based resins are standard in both commercial and packaging offset printing. We see the increasing availability of phenol-free resin alternatives, giving ink manufacturers the possibility to fulfill corresponding requirements.”
Dr. Lutz Frischmann, global product director flexible packaging at hubergroup, talked about the importance of sustainability in resin selection.
“Within the last decade, we have definitely seen a general shift towards recyclability and compostability, which also reflects in the choice of resins,” Dr. Frischmann said. “Moreover, the requirements in the food sector are continuously increasing with regard to resins. For our liquid inks, we thus focus more and more on using polyurethane resins.”
Dr. Canella said some things have changed in terms of sourcing resins in the last decade, but the main criteria remain the same.
“Our key criteria for sourcing resins are performance, reliability, sustainability and efficiency,” Dr. Canella added. “Since food packaging is an important segment for us, we, of course, also closely observe regulations for the Food Contact Material (FCM) sector and consider them in our procurement. While we are always trying to find more efficient and sustainable raw materials, our main selection criteria have remained the same for many years.”
The Importance of Sustainability
Sustainability is critical in resin selection, and resin selection can help in areas such as recyclability and compostability.
“As we aim at offering our customers environmentally friendly solutions, sustainability is an important factor in our ink development,” Dr. Canella said. “For example, we prefer resins based on renewable materials and avoid materials that pose problems in terms of sustainability and recyclability of inks or printed products. As a result, we offer well deinkable sheetfed offset inks which support the recyclability of a product.”
Dr. Frischmann added that resin selection can help regarding the recyclability and compostability of inks.
“Regarding our liquid inks, we focus more and more on using polyurethane resins as they show good compatibility for mechanical recycling without deinking,” Dr. Frischmann said. “As PVC-based inks are not compliable for compostability, we have also put a lot of development work in finding alternative binding agents in the area of polyurethane, which can replace the established PVC-system and enable the compostability of inks. We, therefore, offer a wide range of compostable solvent- and water-based inks.”
The Resin Market in 2022
Speaking with leading consultants, the resin market is sizable, and is growing. Nikhil Pampatwar, head - research & intelligence for Verified Market Research, places the size of the ink resin market at nearly $3 billion annually.
“Ink resins bind the other ingredients of the ink together so that it forms a film, and they secure the ink to the printed surface. Resins cause inks to stick to the substrate,” Pampatwar noted. “They also disperse the pigment and provide gloss to the finished coating. Resins can provide flexibility, scruff resistance, cohesive strength, block resistance, and compatibility with printing plates.
“As per the estimates from Verified Market Research, the global ink resin market for year 2021 stands at US$2,941 million and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.58% until year 2028, reaching a market value of US$4,025 million,” said Pampatwar.
Pampatwar reported that increasing environmental protection standards for the printing ink industry, growth of packaging and energy curable inks industries, increasing demand for UV-cured inks, and new resin technologies are the key factors contributing to the growth of the ink resins market.
As for the major types of resins, Pampatwar estimates that modified rosin resins account for the largest market share, while the acrylic resin type is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 4.6% between 2021 and 2028.
Pampatwar reported that chemically modified resin and synthetic resins are commonly used in ink vehicles as binders and in overprint varnishes.
Resin ester adducts have the highest demand and are the largest-volume resins consumed. Modified cellulose is the second-highest type of resin used in printing inks. Petroleum-based hydrocarbon resins are the third-highest type of resins used in printing inks. Acrylics are used in water-based flexographic inks.
Ram Singh, associate consultant, MarketsandMarkets Research Pvt. Ltd., places the market for ink resins at US$3.3 billion in 2021, reaching US$3.8 billion by 2026, at an estimated CAGR of 3.4%.
Singh added that modified rosin, followed by hydrocarbon, was expected to be the largest resins type in 2020, while UV curable-based technology will likely witness the fastest growth in the ink resins market.
“Solvent-based inks continue to be the largest technology segment,” Singh said. “The main resin used is low viscosity nitrocellulose (NC), which is featured in more than 70% of all solvent-based liquid inks. Liquid media, based on NC, disperse pigment reasonably well, have a good balance between viscosity and solids content, have low odor, print well, and are compatible with a large number of media based on other polymers.”
Concerns over the supply chain have subsided somewhat during the early part of 2022.
“There has been a considerable improvement in supply of raw materials for ink resins from year 2021 until now,” Pampatwar reported. “The availability of acrylates is expected to remain steady, albeit subject to some seasonal and competing demand for paints and coatings, adhesives, and construction applications. Resin raw materials are available, although costs continue to be susceptible to the volatility of feedstock costs or interim supply-demand imbalances.
Propylene oxide-based polyols are available, but pricing has increased. The supply of raw material has improved; however, pricing has not decreased.”
Pampatwar noted that there has been a volatility in raw material prices and fluctuations in demand due to competition from other industries using resins.
“There was a shortage of raw materials, mainly base chemicals for resins, used for producing resins during 2010-2020,” said Pampatwar. “It was due to a surge in oil prices, followed by a demand and supply gap, which led to increased competition from other industries using resins, such as adhesives and sealants and composites.
“It exerted upward pressure on prices, eventually leading to the substitution of major resins, such as epoxy, polyurethane, acrylic, alkyd and vinyl, with other resins that include cellulose, phenolic and vinyl esters,” Pampatwar added.
Singh said there is a high potential demand for ink resins in the flexible packaging industry.
“This is mainly due to improved living standards in developing countries and increased demand for food security,” said Singh. “Moreover, due to shifting from printing media toward digital media, there is a descent in the printing and publication segment.”
“There is high potential demand for ink resins from the flexible packaging and corrugated cardboard and folding cartons segments in the near future,” Pampatwar observed. “The inks utilized in packaging, especially plastics, are experiencing the highest demand in the current marketplace.
“On the other hand, demand for resins from the printing and publication segment is declining due to the development of new technologies,” added Pampatwar. ‘The increasing popularity of the Internet and digital devices fueled the decline in demand for newspapers and magazines. This, in turn, is leading to the decreasing demand for resins for inks, which are used in publication applications.”
Dr. Ulrike Canella, head of product development sheetfed and UV for hubergroup, spoke about hubergroup’s selection of resins.
“We use rosin-based resins for our sheetfed inks because they are renewable materials,” Dr. Canella observed. “Most of the resins we use are modified at our sites in India, which is why we can guarantee high environmental standards in production. Rosin-based resins are standard in both commercial and packaging offset printing. We see the increasing availability of phenol-free resin alternatives, giving ink manufacturers the possibility to fulfill corresponding requirements.”
Dr. Lutz Frischmann, global product director flexible packaging at hubergroup, talked about the importance of sustainability in resin selection.
“Within the last decade, we have definitely seen a general shift towards recyclability and compostability, which also reflects in the choice of resins,” Dr. Frischmann said. “Moreover, the requirements in the food sector are continuously increasing with regard to resins. For our liquid inks, we thus focus more and more on using polyurethane resins.”
Dr. Canella said some things have changed in terms of sourcing resins in the last decade, but the main criteria remain the same.
“Our key criteria for sourcing resins are performance, reliability, sustainability and efficiency,” Dr. Canella added. “Since food packaging is an important segment for us, we, of course, also closely observe regulations for the Food Contact Material (FCM) sector and consider them in our procurement. While we are always trying to find more efficient and sustainable raw materials, our main selection criteria have remained the same for many years.”
The Importance of Sustainability
Sustainability is critical in resin selection, and resin selection can help in areas such as recyclability and compostability.
“As we aim at offering our customers environmentally friendly solutions, sustainability is an important factor in our ink development,” Dr. Canella said. “For example, we prefer resins based on renewable materials and avoid materials that pose problems in terms of sustainability and recyclability of inks or printed products. As a result, we offer well deinkable sheetfed offset inks which support the recyclability of a product.”
Dr. Frischmann added that resin selection can help regarding the recyclability and compostability of inks.
“Regarding our liquid inks, we focus more and more on using polyurethane resins as they show good compatibility for mechanical recycling without deinking,” Dr. Frischmann said. “As PVC-based inks are not compliable for compostability, we have also put a lot of development work in finding alternative binding agents in the area of polyurethane, which can replace the established PVC-system and enable the compostability of inks. We, therefore, offer a wide range of compostable solvent- and water-based inks.”
The Resin Market in 2022
Speaking with leading consultants, the resin market is sizable, and is growing. Nikhil Pampatwar, head - research & intelligence for Verified Market Research, places the size of the ink resin market at nearly $3 billion annually.
“Ink resins bind the other ingredients of the ink together so that it forms a film, and they secure the ink to the printed surface. Resins cause inks to stick to the substrate,” Pampatwar noted. “They also disperse the pigment and provide gloss to the finished coating. Resins can provide flexibility, scruff resistance, cohesive strength, block resistance, and compatibility with printing plates.
“As per the estimates from Verified Market Research, the global ink resin market for year 2021 stands at US$2,941 million and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.58% until year 2028, reaching a market value of US$4,025 million,” said Pampatwar.
Pampatwar reported that increasing environmental protection standards for the printing ink industry, growth of packaging and energy curable inks industries, increasing demand for UV-cured inks, and new resin technologies are the key factors contributing to the growth of the ink resins market.
As for the major types of resins, Pampatwar estimates that modified rosin resins account for the largest market share, while the acrylic resin type is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 4.6% between 2021 and 2028.
Pampatwar reported that chemically modified resin and synthetic resins are commonly used in ink vehicles as binders and in overprint varnishes.
Resin ester adducts have the highest demand and are the largest-volume resins consumed. Modified cellulose is the second-highest type of resin used in printing inks. Petroleum-based hydrocarbon resins are the third-highest type of resins used in printing inks. Acrylics are used in water-based flexographic inks.
Ram Singh, associate consultant, MarketsandMarkets Research Pvt. Ltd., places the market for ink resins at US$3.3 billion in 2021, reaching US$3.8 billion by 2026, at an estimated CAGR of 3.4%.
Singh added that modified rosin, followed by hydrocarbon, was expected to be the largest resins type in 2020, while UV curable-based technology will likely witness the fastest growth in the ink resins market.
“Solvent-based inks continue to be the largest technology segment,” Singh said. “The main resin used is low viscosity nitrocellulose (NC), which is featured in more than 70% of all solvent-based liquid inks. Liquid media, based on NC, disperse pigment reasonably well, have a good balance between viscosity and solids content, have low odor, print well, and are compatible with a large number of media based on other polymers.”
Concerns over the supply chain have subsided somewhat during the early part of 2022.
“There has been a considerable improvement in supply of raw materials for ink resins from year 2021 until now,” Pampatwar reported. “The availability of acrylates is expected to remain steady, albeit subject to some seasonal and competing demand for paints and coatings, adhesives, and construction applications. Resin raw materials are available, although costs continue to be susceptible to the volatility of feedstock costs or interim supply-demand imbalances.
Propylene oxide-based polyols are available, but pricing has increased. The supply of raw material has improved; however, pricing has not decreased.”
Pampatwar noted that there has been a volatility in raw material prices and fluctuations in demand due to competition from other industries using resins.
“There was a shortage of raw materials, mainly base chemicals for resins, used for producing resins during 2010-2020,” said Pampatwar. “It was due to a surge in oil prices, followed by a demand and supply gap, which led to increased competition from other industries using resins, such as adhesives and sealants and composites.
“It exerted upward pressure on prices, eventually leading to the substitution of major resins, such as epoxy, polyurethane, acrylic, alkyd and vinyl, with other resins that include cellulose, phenolic and vinyl esters,” Pampatwar added.
Singh said there is a high potential demand for ink resins in the flexible packaging industry.
“This is mainly due to improved living standards in developing countries and increased demand for food security,” said Singh. “Moreover, due to shifting from printing media toward digital media, there is a descent in the printing and publication segment.”
“There is high potential demand for ink resins from the flexible packaging and corrugated cardboard and folding cartons segments in the near future,” Pampatwar observed. “The inks utilized in packaging, especially plastics, are experiencing the highest demand in the current marketplace.
“On the other hand, demand for resins from the printing and publication segment is declining due to the development of new technologies,” added Pampatwar. ‘The increasing popularity of the Internet and digital devices fueled the decline in demand for newspapers and magazines. This, in turn, is leading to the decreasing demand for resins for inks, which are used in publication applications.”
