There are significant advantages for any company this has vertically integrated the production of key raw materials. Companies can be certain of their supply chain, even in uncertain times like these, and can tailor their ingredients to meet their needs.
For hubergroup, the 2006 acquisition of Micro Inks in India provided not just the leading ink supplier in India, but also a major producer of pigments, resins and other ingredients. Today, through Micro Inks, hubergroup one of the last producers of alkali blue worldwide.
In a major announcement on July 16, 2020, hubergroup announced that it will now formally hubergroup Chemicals Division, an independent subsidiary from hubergroup Print Solutions.
Taner Bicer, president Chemicals Division hubergroup, noted that the family-owned company, which has been in the ink industry for 255 years, has refined its expertise in colorants, energy curing, polyurethane (PU) and other ingredients, and now believes the time is right for the new division.
“As hubergroup, we are present in 33 countries. We are globally producing in 10 different sites, five of which are in India,” Bicer said. “Our revenue was $863 million in 2019, which is 245,000 tons of ink. We have been able to produce two-thirds of the raw materials required for these 245,000 tons of inks comfortably within our capabilities.”
“We can offer UV-curable oligomers, PU, modified rosin, ketonic, polyamide and PVB resins, 2-component solvent-based and solventless PU laminating adhesives, pigment concentrates for heatset, coldest, conventional and UV sheetfed and alkali blue, which we are the only producer worldwide, and additives like adhesion promoters,” he added. “You can see that the portfolio is quite comprehensive. You can produce the complete ink with us.”
Bicer observed that the 2006 acquisition of Micro Inks was a major moment for hubergroup.
“That was the moment when we got access to producing raw materials for inks for the very first time,” Bicer said. “In between 2006 and 2020, we have leveraged our raw material capabilities and further improved our raw material processes and portfolio, and now we have a state-of-the-art product portfolio.
“Now in 2020, we would like to offer our entire knowledge and capabilities in the area of raw materials to everyone else,” he added. “From today on, the hubergroup is operating in two independent divisions, which is very important. We remain under the hubergroup Print Solutions and the new division we are launching today, hubergroup Chemicals.”
Bicer pointed out that Hubergroup Chemicals will be a vendor to hubergroup Print Solutions, and emphasized that it will be independent
hubergroup Chemicals will be headquartered in Munich. The division has R&D, technical support and sales in Germany and India, and technical support and sales in the US. Manufacturing will be done in India. All of its manufacturing facilities are ISO 9001:2015. OHSAS 18001:2007, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 50001:2011, and hubergroup manufactures all products for food packaging according to GMP standards from the very beginning of the process to the finished product. In addition, hubergroup is a member of the Responsible Care initiative.
“Our manufacturing site in Vapi, India is our biggest, with almost 400,000 square meters,” Bicer said. “We are operating there with more than 90 reactors, which ends up with a potential production capacity of 230 kilotons per year. The second manufacturing site dedicated to chemicals is in Daman, India. It is 35,000 square feet, with more than 25 reactors with and an annual 30 kiloton production capacity.”
Daman is hubergroup’s largest R&D operation.
“At Daman, we can produce any kind of chemistry we are doing in the hubergroup, whether it is inks, coatings, or any other chemistry. It is no coincidence our biggest R&D capabilities are in Daman,” Bicer added.
Dr. Angela Stark, technical marketing manager for hubergroup Chemicals, added that Daman has more than 20 research chemists.
“Our R&D hub is located in the Daman plant, where we have ink, coatings and raw material know-how in our research team,” Dr. Stark said. “We have more than five dedicated pilot reactors and more than 20 new products per year.”
Dr. Stark said there are four pillars the new Chemicals division will focus on. The first pillar is printing ink and overprint varnishes.
“We have a very wide range of raw materials for printing inks already,” Dr. Stark added. “Our focus is on energy curing, solvent-based and oil-based systems. In solvent-based, we are really strong in polyurethane.
“Our second pillar for our future will be PU adhesives for the flexible packaging market,” she continued. “We have a very strong presence in the Indian market, where we have a comprehensive portfolio in lamination inks and are looking to expand in Europe and the US. We have working products, but there are different requirements in the EU and US, but we are already producing GMP standards in India.”
The third pillar is custom manufacturing.
“We have the capacities, and it might be interesting for partners in the chemical industry to do joint R&D and tailor-made products and building blocks for the chemical industry,” Dr. Stark observed. “The first three pillars are existing businesses for us. The fourth pillar is more future-oriented. We want to optimize our portfolio, whether it is water-based materials for PU or bio-based materials for energy curing. We also want to leave our comfort zone and offer materials beyond inks, for example, various types of coatings or adhesives.”
Bicer noted that hubergroup will not enter the inkjet market, but its Chemicals division can supply inkjet ink producers.
“It is a clear management decision that hubergroup’s focus will be on the packaging side, and we are not going to investigate digital inks,’ Bicer said. “However, the raw materials will be available from us.”
Bicer said that hubergroup sees large potential for the Chemicals Division.
“It is important to note that we have been selling raw materials previously, but this is
official and give access to everyone,” Bicer said. “We are already in the double-digit million range, and we are indeed forecasting big expectations with turnover, with high double-digit million range for the next few years.”
