7-20 Nihonbashi 3-chome
Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan 103-8233
Phone: +81 3-5203-7838
Fax: +81 3-3273-7586
DIC: www.dic-global.com/en
Sun Chemical: www.sunchemical.com

Sales: DIC: $4.85 billion (¥521,500 million) in graphic arts sales, including Sun Chemical, which has more than $3.5 billion in ink and pigment sales. Total sales: $7.5 billion (¥805.5 billion).

Sales: DIC: $4.85 billion (¥521,500 million) in graphic arts sales, including Sun Chemical, which has more than $3.5 billion in ink and pigment sales. Total sales: $7.5 billion (¥805.5 billion).

Major Products: Broad product portfolio with capabilities in web heatset and sheetfed offset; publication and packaging gravure; news ink and publication coldset; flexographic packaging inks; corrugated packaging inks; energy curable inks and coatings; screen inks, toner, inkjet materials, adhesives for packaging, overprint varnishes, specialty coatings, effect inks, security inks and coatings, printing consumables and organic pigments for inks, plastics, paints, coatings and cosmetics.

Key Personnel: Kaoru Ino, president and CEO; Masayuki Saito, CFO and Sun Chemical Corp. chairman of the board; Kazunari Sakai, GM, Technical Management Unit; Hideo Ishii, president, Packaging and Graphic Business Group; Masami Hatao, president, Color & Display Business Group; Naoyoshi Furata, GM, Production Management Unit; Kazuo Hatakenaka, president, Functional Products Business Group; Rudi Lenz, vice chairman of the board, Sun Chemical; Myron Petruch, president and CEO of Sun Chemical; Koji Tamigami, president and CEO, DIC Graphics Corporation.

Number of Employees: 20,620.

Comments: In terms of sales, DIC Corporation enjoyed solid growth in 2018, with consolidated sales increasing 2% to ¥805.5 billion ($7.5 billion). Operating income declined 14.3% to ¥48.4 billion ($45 million), with higher raw material prices of particular concern.

“In this environment, consolidated net sales increased 2.0%, to ¥805.5 billion, reflecting multiple factors, including the revision of sales prices and firm shipments,” the company noted in its annual report. “Operating income declined 14.3%, to ¥48.4 billion, hampered by rising raw materials prices, higher distribution costs and the depreciation of currencies in European emerging economies, among others. Net cash provided by operating activities amounted to ¥51.0 billion, down from ¥54.2 billion provided by such activities in fiscal year 2017.”

The leading global ink manufacturer, DIC Corporation has more than 170 companies, including Sun Chemical, its North American/EMEA subsidiary. DIC reported $4.85 billion (¥521,500 million) in graphic arts sales in 2018, which was flat compared to the previous year.

Sales in printing inks were $3.6 billion. Ink sales in the Americas and Europe rose 2.5% and 4.3% in Asia and Oceania, offsetting a 3.6% decline in Japan. The Fine Chemicals segment includes pigments, and DIC reported a decline of 2.3% to ¥132.3 billion ($1.2 billion), although effect pigment sales were up.

“Sales in Japan declined, a consequence of diminished demand for publishing inks, among others,” the company reported in its annual report. “Although sales of packaging inks rose, sales in North America edged down, owing to waning demand for publishing inks and news inks. In Europe, sales increased, boosted by brisk shipments of packaging inks. Sales in Central and South America were up in all product categories. Higher shipments of packaging inks and publishing inks bolstered sales in the PRC and Southeast Asia. Sales in Oceania fell, with causes including fading demand for publishing inks and news inks. Sales in India increased in all product categories.”