David Savastano, Editor05.20.19
Ink formulators rely on additives to impart the desired characteristics for their inks. They can choose from many different types of additives, including waxes, defoamers, surfactants, dispersants, rheology modifiers and more, which will help the ink perform ideally on press and on the finished product.
Not surprisingly, additives for inks are a sizable market, with MarketsandMarkets placing the size of the market at more than $2 billion and rising. In its report, “Ink Additives Market by Type ( Dispersing & Wetting Agents, Foam Control Additives, Slip/Rub Materials, Rheology Modifiers), Process, Technology, Application (Packaging, Publishing, Printing), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023,” MarketsandMarkets predicts the global ink additives market will reach $2 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2018 and 2023.
“This growth is attributed to the growing demand for sustainable, low-cost and safe additives which have led to the development of new additives and chemistries,” MarketsandMarkets’ analysts reported. “Additives that offer excellent performance characteristics at reduced cost and have a lower impact on the environment are in the best position to capture the market. China, India and other Southeast Asian countries promise increasing demand for ink additives owing to increased demand from major applications.”
In terms of type, MarketsandMarkets said dispersing and wetting agents accounted for the largest share of the market, globally.
“The increasing demand from applications such as graphic arts, publishing, inkjet and UV inks, particularly in Asia Pacific, is driving the demand for dispersing and wetting agents. Dispersing and wetting agents are used in higher dosages in almost all types of inks, which leads to its high demand,” the analysts added.
Leading additives manufacturers report they are seeing growth as well, driven by the packaging ink market.
Shamrock Technologies VP Joon Choo said that 2018 proved to be a challenging year for the graphic arts given the tightening regulatory landscape, increasing costs of compliance and lower economic growth rates. “Packaging, in particular, the water-based side, continues to shine,” Choo added.
“Across all four of our product groups, The Keim Group has seen a predictable increase in demand for micronized waxes, water-based wax dispersions and highly efficient non-wax additives for graphic arts – but this was dependent on the markets our specific customers addressed based on their individual strategies,” said Dave Grabacki, president of keim additec surface USA, LLC. “We have seen a great deal of activity with customers who are active in products for packaging, tobacco and special food contact applications. We also see a focus on digital/inkjet printing.”
Rich Czarnecki, director, business and technology development for Micro Powders, said that the company’s industrial wax division had a strong year in 2018.
“Many of our legacy products continue to thrive, and our newer composite wax technologies are offering graphic arts customers best-in-class performance at lower dosage levels,” Czarnecki said. “We see a definite spike in customer interest regarding additives based on natural materials.”
Jerry Trauth, product manager wax, additives/ink applications at Kustom Group, said that similar to recent years, overall market performance in 2018 was flat.
“For Kustom, our wax and additives line continued to show growth in the graphic arts market,” Trauth added. “These were mostly triggered by new products for energy cure, regulatory compliance such as Nestle, and low odor applications. Sales of UV and LED photoinitiator blends have also been strong. Packaging and LED continue to be strong.”
“The market is seeing increasing competition from a range of global players in the additives market,” added Alison Drasdo, marketing manager – printing and packaging, Lubrizol Performance Coatings.
Raw Materials
Raw materials prices and availability have been challenges for ink suppliers during the past few years.
Trauth observed that the lack of stability in the photoinitiator market in terms of pricing and supply over the last couple of years has been, and continues to be, a challenge.
“Our priority is to meet our customers’ needs for the critical products they use,” Trauth added. “To do this consistently, we had to commit to suppliers we could count on, and we also had to take an aggressive approach with our inventory levels. There was risk involved, but having reliable inventory helped us to keep existing customers supplied, while also developing new business along the way.”
“Our raw materials have been relatively stable this past year,” said Czarnecki. “We are loyal to our long-time supply partners, and they do their best to meet our needs when forecasts change or new product approvals hit us unexpectedly.”
“Supply has not seen much movement for our additives segment. However, the prices were trending up especially in the early part of the year,” Choo said. “This has softened somewhat, and we are pleased with projected stability for the rest of 2019.”
“Thanks to our backward integration, our Ceronas and Euroceras solid waxes have seen a very high level of interest,” Grabacki observed. “Through the manufacture of our own core raw material wax, The Keim Group has provided a high level of stability to our customers despite the global supply challenges due to the oligopoly supplier structure.”
Additives manufacturers are working closely with their customers to overcome these challenges.
“Our TSG (Technical Service Group) folks physically pick up the incoming calls, and continue to stay close to customers as they reformulate for improved performance and cost positions as well as to ensure their offerings are in global regulatory compliance,” Choo said.
“There is close communication and cooperation with our customers requesting forecasts so that delivery times can be maintained,” Grabacki said.
Regulatory Concerns
The regulatory landscape continues to become stricter, and additives manufacturers are working closely with ink manufacturers to meet their regulatory requirements.
“Our technical staff regularly calls on customers to understand and work with customers on formulation specific issues,” said Choo. “Clear and timely communications are key to successful reformulations as fresh information become available.”
“We involve our regulatory team very early in the process of recommending products based on specific customer requirements,” said Grabacki. “We are also proactive in our product development process, keeping a keen eye on current and proposed new regulations. We are and will continue to stay well ahead of the regulatory curve.”
“The vast majority of our products have broad global food packaging compliance, so they are a great option for formulators working in this space,” Czarnecki said.
“Confirming compliance and staying updated with suppliers for the various raw materials is very time consuming, but must be done,” said Trauth. “Our customers know they can call Kustom for up to date answers to their regulatory questions. We work hard to be a knowledgeable resource to our customers on the various requirements like low odor, low migration, Nestle or Swiss compliance, FDA and Prop 65 labeling. Our goal is to provide products that are both compliant, and meet practical standards necessary to perform well on press.”
“We are ensuring that all new products meet current and future regulatory needs (e.g. are APEO-free or have use acceptable biocides) or are suitable for low migration inks,” said Drasdo. “TSCA approval of new products for the US market is slowing introduction of new grades into that region.”
Expectations for the Coming Year
Overall, additives suppliers anticipate a good year ahead. For example, Drasdo anticipates continued growth of digital inks and increasing focus on sustainability, including additives based on renewables raw materials.
“Our ability to supply and our investment in production sites and capacities in Germany gives us a very strong position,” Grabacki said. “With our expanded US distribution network of new warehouses and our growing sales team, we expect 2020 to continue on the growth pattern.”
“New products such as an all-UV Soft Feel Coating, the introduction of aqueous wax emulsions, along with many new compliant products make us optimistic for 2019,” said Trauth. “Internal process improvement projects for our aqueous product line and additional equipment added over the last couple years will continue to help us respond quickly to customer requirements.”
“We expect that 2019 will be another robust year for Micro Powders as we continue to spread the message that high-performance wax additives, used at lower dosages, can provide the best balance of performance and value,” Czarnecki said.
“We are optimistic that 2019 will see a higher growth rate, as we continue our efforts in improving the performance, efficacy and compliance of our products,” Choo concluded.
Not surprisingly, additives for inks are a sizable market, with MarketsandMarkets placing the size of the market at more than $2 billion and rising. In its report, “Ink Additives Market by Type ( Dispersing & Wetting Agents, Foam Control Additives, Slip/Rub Materials, Rheology Modifiers), Process, Technology, Application (Packaging, Publishing, Printing), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023,” MarketsandMarkets predicts the global ink additives market will reach $2 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2018 and 2023.
“This growth is attributed to the growing demand for sustainable, low-cost and safe additives which have led to the development of new additives and chemistries,” MarketsandMarkets’ analysts reported. “Additives that offer excellent performance characteristics at reduced cost and have a lower impact on the environment are in the best position to capture the market. China, India and other Southeast Asian countries promise increasing demand for ink additives owing to increased demand from major applications.”
In terms of type, MarketsandMarkets said dispersing and wetting agents accounted for the largest share of the market, globally.
“The increasing demand from applications such as graphic arts, publishing, inkjet and UV inks, particularly in Asia Pacific, is driving the demand for dispersing and wetting agents. Dispersing and wetting agents are used in higher dosages in almost all types of inks, which leads to its high demand,” the analysts added.
Leading additives manufacturers report they are seeing growth as well, driven by the packaging ink market.
Shamrock Technologies VP Joon Choo said that 2018 proved to be a challenging year for the graphic arts given the tightening regulatory landscape, increasing costs of compliance and lower economic growth rates. “Packaging, in particular, the water-based side, continues to shine,” Choo added.
“Across all four of our product groups, The Keim Group has seen a predictable increase in demand for micronized waxes, water-based wax dispersions and highly efficient non-wax additives for graphic arts – but this was dependent on the markets our specific customers addressed based on their individual strategies,” said Dave Grabacki, president of keim additec surface USA, LLC. “We have seen a great deal of activity with customers who are active in products for packaging, tobacco and special food contact applications. We also see a focus on digital/inkjet printing.”
Rich Czarnecki, director, business and technology development for Micro Powders, said that the company’s industrial wax division had a strong year in 2018.
“Many of our legacy products continue to thrive, and our newer composite wax technologies are offering graphic arts customers best-in-class performance at lower dosage levels,” Czarnecki said. “We see a definite spike in customer interest regarding additives based on natural materials.”
Jerry Trauth, product manager wax, additives/ink applications at Kustom Group, said that similar to recent years, overall market performance in 2018 was flat.
“For Kustom, our wax and additives line continued to show growth in the graphic arts market,” Trauth added. “These were mostly triggered by new products for energy cure, regulatory compliance such as Nestle, and low odor applications. Sales of UV and LED photoinitiator blends have also been strong. Packaging and LED continue to be strong.”
“The market is seeing increasing competition from a range of global players in the additives market,” added Alison Drasdo, marketing manager – printing and packaging, Lubrizol Performance Coatings.
Raw Materials
Raw materials prices and availability have been challenges for ink suppliers during the past few years.
Trauth observed that the lack of stability in the photoinitiator market in terms of pricing and supply over the last couple of years has been, and continues to be, a challenge.
“Our priority is to meet our customers’ needs for the critical products they use,” Trauth added. “To do this consistently, we had to commit to suppliers we could count on, and we also had to take an aggressive approach with our inventory levels. There was risk involved, but having reliable inventory helped us to keep existing customers supplied, while also developing new business along the way.”
“Our raw materials have been relatively stable this past year,” said Czarnecki. “We are loyal to our long-time supply partners, and they do their best to meet our needs when forecasts change or new product approvals hit us unexpectedly.”
“Supply has not seen much movement for our additives segment. However, the prices were trending up especially in the early part of the year,” Choo said. “This has softened somewhat, and we are pleased with projected stability for the rest of 2019.”
“Thanks to our backward integration, our Ceronas and Euroceras solid waxes have seen a very high level of interest,” Grabacki observed. “Through the manufacture of our own core raw material wax, The Keim Group has provided a high level of stability to our customers despite the global supply challenges due to the oligopoly supplier structure.”
Additives manufacturers are working closely with their customers to overcome these challenges.
“Our TSG (Technical Service Group) folks physically pick up the incoming calls, and continue to stay close to customers as they reformulate for improved performance and cost positions as well as to ensure their offerings are in global regulatory compliance,” Choo said.
“There is close communication and cooperation with our customers requesting forecasts so that delivery times can be maintained,” Grabacki said.
Regulatory Concerns
The regulatory landscape continues to become stricter, and additives manufacturers are working closely with ink manufacturers to meet their regulatory requirements.
“Our technical staff regularly calls on customers to understand and work with customers on formulation specific issues,” said Choo. “Clear and timely communications are key to successful reformulations as fresh information become available.”
“We involve our regulatory team very early in the process of recommending products based on specific customer requirements,” said Grabacki. “We are also proactive in our product development process, keeping a keen eye on current and proposed new regulations. We are and will continue to stay well ahead of the regulatory curve.”
“The vast majority of our products have broad global food packaging compliance, so they are a great option for formulators working in this space,” Czarnecki said.
“Confirming compliance and staying updated with suppliers for the various raw materials is very time consuming, but must be done,” said Trauth. “Our customers know they can call Kustom for up to date answers to their regulatory questions. We work hard to be a knowledgeable resource to our customers on the various requirements like low odor, low migration, Nestle or Swiss compliance, FDA and Prop 65 labeling. Our goal is to provide products that are both compliant, and meet practical standards necessary to perform well on press.”
“We are ensuring that all new products meet current and future regulatory needs (e.g. are APEO-free or have use acceptable biocides) or are suitable for low migration inks,” said Drasdo. “TSCA approval of new products for the US market is slowing introduction of new grades into that region.”
Expectations for the Coming Year
Overall, additives suppliers anticipate a good year ahead. For example, Drasdo anticipates continued growth of digital inks and increasing focus on sustainability, including additives based on renewables raw materials.
“Our ability to supply and our investment in production sites and capacities in Germany gives us a very strong position,” Grabacki said. “With our expanded US distribution network of new warehouses and our growing sales team, we expect 2020 to continue on the growth pattern.”
“New products such as an all-UV Soft Feel Coating, the introduction of aqueous wax emulsions, along with many new compliant products make us optimistic for 2019,” said Trauth. “Internal process improvement projects for our aqueous product line and additional equipment added over the last couple years will continue to help us respond quickly to customer requirements.”
“We expect that 2019 will be another robust year for Micro Powders as we continue to spread the message that high-performance wax additives, used at lower dosages, can provide the best balance of performance and value,” Czarnecki said.
“We are optimistic that 2019 will see a higher growth rate, as we continue our efforts in improving the performance, efficacy and compliance of our products,” Choo concluded.
