07.14.22
Alfred-Keller-Strasse 55
53721 Siegburg, Germany
Phone: +49 2241-3040
www.siegwerk.com
E-mail: info@siegwerk.com
Sales: $1.38 billion (€1.185 billion)
Major Products: Provider of solvent-based, water-based and energy curable inks and coatings and related point-of-use services for the packaging and label industries. Product applications include flexible packaging, labels, folding cartons, corrugated boxes, cups, and tubes using flexographic, rotogravure, offset and
digital printing.
Key Personnel: Dr. Nicolas Wiedmann, CEO; Dr. Oliver Wittmann, CFO; Ralf Hildenbrand, president Americas; Dr. Jan Breitkopf, president EMEA; Ashish Pradhan, president Asia.
Number of Employees: ~5,000 in more than 35 countries.
Comments: The packaging market remains very strong, and Siegwerk, which is predominantly focused on the packaging ink and coating segment, had a strong year, with sales up slightly to €1.185 billion ($1.38 billion).
Siegwerk CEO Dr. Nicolas Wiedmann observed that Siegwerk remained on an expansion track over the past 12 months with multiple initiatives across the globe.
“For example, in October 2021 Siegwerk formed a joint venture with Rotopack, marking the company’s entry into the Pakistan ink market,” Dr. Wiedmann pointed out. “Being the fifth most populous country, this partnership allowed Siegwerk to grow in an important white spot market.”
India is an important market for Siegwerk, and the company made some key moves to strengthen its position there. For example, in early 2022, the company commissioned a new solvent-based Blending Center at its Bhiwadi facility in India.
“Together with the company’s 100% toluene-free manufacturing plant, the new center further supports its industry leading growth in the country,” Dr. Wiedmann said. “To keep up with the growing market demands and to better serve its local customers in Northern India, Siegwerk has also established a new warehouse and color matching center in Tauru, Haryana, in April 2022.”
The company has also acquired La Sorgente Spa, one of the leading ink manufacturers in Italy.
“By acquiring the local manufacturer of high-quality water-based flexographic inks for paper & board applications as well as solvent-based inks for flexible packaging, Siegwerk expanded its domestic business and strengthened its local coverage, infrastructure, and service for packaging printers in the Italian region,” Dr. Wiedmann noted.
From a product perspective, there were several development highlights from Siegwerk during the last year.
“In India, we have for example launched the mineral oil-free ink range VEGA as a response to a growing demand for transparency and safer ingredients in packaging products,” Dr. Wiedmann reported. “Additionally, Siegwerk has launched a new sustainable UV offset ink series for non-food paper and board applications: SICURA Litho Pack ECO,”
Another development highlight is Siegwerk’s new generation of NC inks for flexible packaging applications, produced with the most state-of-the-art production equipment at its headquarters in Germany.
“The new NC innovation offers customers a higher flexibility through optimized technical performance and higher color strength, allowing an even better tailoring to individual needs,” said Dr. Wiedmann. “Besides, Siegwerk launched a UV-curing deinking primer suitable for pressure sensitive and wrap-around labels, as well as shrink sleeves made of polyolefin- and polyester-based materials.”
To further strengthen its commitment to sustainability and a circular economy, Siegwerk has updated its sustainability policy: The new HorizonNOW agenda reflects the company’s commitment to the society and the communities where it operates.
“Just recently, Siegwerk has even received the EcoVadis Silver Medal rating across all business units and regions,” Dr. Wiedmann said. “The company’s overall score is considered in the top 15 percent of companies in the manufacture of paints, varnishes and similar coatings, printing ink and mastics industry. This puts Siegwerk in a leading position with regards to sustainable business practices and solutions across the inks and coatings industry.”
Dr. Wiedmann noted that the business environment remains a challenging one.
“There is a combination of factors that are still causing havoc across many industrial sectors and in most markets around the world: The effects of the supply chain disruptions with the easing of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine are felt by all companies across the inks and coatings value chain,” Dr. Wiedmann observed.
“Raw materials, energy and transportation costs remain high due to over demand and shortages in the supply chain. For example, the paper sector has seen significant price increases driven by high energy costs and a shortage of paper and board in Europe. Moreover, with the rising fluctuations in oil prices, there is a strong upward price pressure for resins, which are key raw materials in plastic packaging production.”
In the last few months, Dr. Wiedmann said that Siegwerk has adapted and reorganized its processes systemically to these continuing challenges.
“In a significantly shorter time, we can now evaluate the effects on pricing, availability, logistics and relationships with our suppliers and derive actions more quickly,” he noted. “In this way, we ensure the availability of our products on the market and allow competitive terms for our customers even in a highly volatile environment.
“In this rapidly changing environment, you can only speculate on when the situation will stabilize again,” Dr. Wiedmann added. “For the time being we do not anticipate any immediate relief, but we have optimized our organization, processes, and systems to be able to make better decisions faster and serve our customers and support our employees worldwide.”
As for 2022, Siegwerk is working to overcome all of these challenges, but Dr. Wiedmann said that Siegwerk is in good position to thrive, particularly with its emphasis on sustainability.
“Like the rest of the industry, Siegwerk is suffering from rising costs, the war in Ukraine and the related sanctions against Russia,” Dr. Wiedmann said. “Despite the challenging economic environment, Siegwerk is a fundamentally strong company and its teams have been working exceptionally well to serve their customers, achieve their sustainability targets and expand the company’s footprint.
“Going forward, the growing focus of printers and brand owners on sustainable packaging solutions and the use of renewable materials in ink formulations will drive the development activities in all ink technologies in line with the general market demand for sustainable solutions,” he added. “Meeting circular economy requirements will be the driving key trend across the packaging value chain. Siegwerk is on track to deliver on its strategic goal of becoming a circular economy solutions company by 2025.
“However, we will continue to face the challenges of strong cost pressures from increased raw material costs, energy costs and logistics costs throughout 2022,” Dr. Wiedmann concluded. “Nevertheless, we headed into the year with ambitious goals to continue growing our strong position within the packaging market. All in all, we aim for continued growth throughout 2022 and beyond, and make every effort to manage the overall economic challenges as best as possible.”
53721 Siegburg, Germany
Phone: +49 2241-3040
www.siegwerk.com
E-mail: info@siegwerk.com
Sales: $1.38 billion (€1.185 billion)
Major Products: Provider of solvent-based, water-based and energy curable inks and coatings and related point-of-use services for the packaging and label industries. Product applications include flexible packaging, labels, folding cartons, corrugated boxes, cups, and tubes using flexographic, rotogravure, offset and
digital printing.
Key Personnel: Dr. Nicolas Wiedmann, CEO; Dr. Oliver Wittmann, CFO; Ralf Hildenbrand, president Americas; Dr. Jan Breitkopf, president EMEA; Ashish Pradhan, president Asia.
Number of Employees: ~5,000 in more than 35 countries.
Comments: The packaging market remains very strong, and Siegwerk, which is predominantly focused on the packaging ink and coating segment, had a strong year, with sales up slightly to €1.185 billion ($1.38 billion).
Siegwerk CEO Dr. Nicolas Wiedmann observed that Siegwerk remained on an expansion track over the past 12 months with multiple initiatives across the globe.
“For example, in October 2021 Siegwerk formed a joint venture with Rotopack, marking the company’s entry into the Pakistan ink market,” Dr. Wiedmann pointed out. “Being the fifth most populous country, this partnership allowed Siegwerk to grow in an important white spot market.”
India is an important market for Siegwerk, and the company made some key moves to strengthen its position there. For example, in early 2022, the company commissioned a new solvent-based Blending Center at its Bhiwadi facility in India.
“Together with the company’s 100% toluene-free manufacturing plant, the new center further supports its industry leading growth in the country,” Dr. Wiedmann said. “To keep up with the growing market demands and to better serve its local customers in Northern India, Siegwerk has also established a new warehouse and color matching center in Tauru, Haryana, in April 2022.”
The company has also acquired La Sorgente Spa, one of the leading ink manufacturers in Italy.
“By acquiring the local manufacturer of high-quality water-based flexographic inks for paper & board applications as well as solvent-based inks for flexible packaging, Siegwerk expanded its domestic business and strengthened its local coverage, infrastructure, and service for packaging printers in the Italian region,” Dr. Wiedmann noted.
From a product perspective, there were several development highlights from Siegwerk during the last year.
“In India, we have for example launched the mineral oil-free ink range VEGA as a response to a growing demand for transparency and safer ingredients in packaging products,” Dr. Wiedmann reported. “Additionally, Siegwerk has launched a new sustainable UV offset ink series for non-food paper and board applications: SICURA Litho Pack ECO,”
Another development highlight is Siegwerk’s new generation of NC inks for flexible packaging applications, produced with the most state-of-the-art production equipment at its headquarters in Germany.
“The new NC innovation offers customers a higher flexibility through optimized technical performance and higher color strength, allowing an even better tailoring to individual needs,” said Dr. Wiedmann. “Besides, Siegwerk launched a UV-curing deinking primer suitable for pressure sensitive and wrap-around labels, as well as shrink sleeves made of polyolefin- and polyester-based materials.”
To further strengthen its commitment to sustainability and a circular economy, Siegwerk has updated its sustainability policy: The new HorizonNOW agenda reflects the company’s commitment to the society and the communities where it operates.
“Just recently, Siegwerk has even received the EcoVadis Silver Medal rating across all business units and regions,” Dr. Wiedmann said. “The company’s overall score is considered in the top 15 percent of companies in the manufacture of paints, varnishes and similar coatings, printing ink and mastics industry. This puts Siegwerk in a leading position with regards to sustainable business practices and solutions across the inks and coatings industry.”
Dr. Wiedmann noted that the business environment remains a challenging one.
“There is a combination of factors that are still causing havoc across many industrial sectors and in most markets around the world: The effects of the supply chain disruptions with the easing of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine are felt by all companies across the inks and coatings value chain,” Dr. Wiedmann observed.
“Raw materials, energy and transportation costs remain high due to over demand and shortages in the supply chain. For example, the paper sector has seen significant price increases driven by high energy costs and a shortage of paper and board in Europe. Moreover, with the rising fluctuations in oil prices, there is a strong upward price pressure for resins, which are key raw materials in plastic packaging production.”
In the last few months, Dr. Wiedmann said that Siegwerk has adapted and reorganized its processes systemically to these continuing challenges.
“In a significantly shorter time, we can now evaluate the effects on pricing, availability, logistics and relationships with our suppliers and derive actions more quickly,” he noted. “In this way, we ensure the availability of our products on the market and allow competitive terms for our customers even in a highly volatile environment.
“In this rapidly changing environment, you can only speculate on when the situation will stabilize again,” Dr. Wiedmann added. “For the time being we do not anticipate any immediate relief, but we have optimized our organization, processes, and systems to be able to make better decisions faster and serve our customers and support our employees worldwide.”
As for 2022, Siegwerk is working to overcome all of these challenges, but Dr. Wiedmann said that Siegwerk is in good position to thrive, particularly with its emphasis on sustainability.
“Like the rest of the industry, Siegwerk is suffering from rising costs, the war in Ukraine and the related sanctions against Russia,” Dr. Wiedmann said. “Despite the challenging economic environment, Siegwerk is a fundamentally strong company and its teams have been working exceptionally well to serve their customers, achieve their sustainability targets and expand the company’s footprint.
“Going forward, the growing focus of printers and brand owners on sustainable packaging solutions and the use of renewable materials in ink formulations will drive the development activities in all ink technologies in line with the general market demand for sustainable solutions,” he added. “Meeting circular economy requirements will be the driving key trend across the packaging value chain. Siegwerk is on track to deliver on its strategic goal of becoming a circular economy solutions company by 2025.
“However, we will continue to face the challenges of strong cost pressures from increased raw material costs, energy costs and logistics costs throughout 2022,” Dr. Wiedmann concluded. “Nevertheless, we headed into the year with ambitious goals to continue growing our strong position within the packaging market. All in all, we aim for continued growth throughout 2022 and beyond, and make every effort to manage the overall economic challenges as best as possible.”
