Whether it is for packaging, publication or specialty applications, additives are critical for providing critical characteristics ink formulators are looking for from their finished ink.

Additives come in many forms – waxes, surfactants, defoamers, rheology modifiers and many more; determining the correct amount of each ingredient is essential to the final ink.

In MarketsandMarkets’ 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,” the consultants believe the ink additives market is growing at 5.2% year over year, and anticipate the market reaching annual sales of $2 billion by 2023. Dispersing and wetting agents are seen to be the leading segments by sales.

In speaking with additives manufacturers, it is clear there is growth in demand for waxes and additives, with packaging inks being the strongest ink segment in 2019.

“Across all four of our product groups, the keimgroup has seen a predictable increase in demand for micronized waxes, water-based wax dispersions and highly efficient non-wax additives for graphic arts – especially over 2018 levels,” said David Grabacki, president, keim additec surface USA, LLC.

Shamrock Technologies VP Joon Choo noted that Shamrock Technologies has always chosen to focus on technology development to building its product portfolio for the coatings and inks market.

“From dedicated R&D staff to applications and testing laboratories across its six sites, Shamrock has a high percentage of employees dedicated to R&D, technical services, and laboratory/applications testing,” Choo added. John McAllister, global director of sales, Micro Powders Inc., reported that the graphic arts industry fared well this year, especially in consumer packaging.

“There continues to be a lot of innovation in package design to attract retail consumers and an important element to this is appearance and haptics,” McAllister added. “This created opportunities for our specialty waxes for matting and soft touch.”

“We would say that the environment for the graphic arts industry is challenging because people are using other media to inform themselves,” said Tobias Niederleitner, global technical segment manager, BL Advanced Surface Solutions, Clariant. “Electronic media is getting more and more important and therefore printed media are used less. You can even see this in the reduction of newspapers, magazines, etc. and/or publishers concentrating more on their online outlets.”

Jerry Trauth, product manager wax, additives/ink applications at Kustom Group, noted that Kustom Group has experienced modest growth in 2019 thus far.

“The trend continues to be an up and down order pattern, with a strong month followed by a lesser one,” he added. “Our wax and additives line continues to grow. New products for energy cure, regulatory compliance such as Prop 65, Nestle and low odor applications have performed well. Sales of UV photoinitiator blends have also been strong.”

Raw Materials

There remain serious concerns about raw material cost and availability, with certain key ingredients creating more problems for suppliers.

“Due to some of the major wax companies switching their capacities to serve other markets, the availability of certain waxes has become very tight and pricing of those waxes has become very volatile,” Grabacki reported. “

Thanks to our backward integration, our Ceronas and Euroceras waxes have seen a very high level of interest.”

“For us, the main raw material is still ethylene,” said Niederleitner. “Increases/decreases in crude oil prices/availability will have an obvious impact on our business. But as sustainability is a key pillar of Clariant, we offer more and more solutions based on renewable feedstock. This makes our product portfolio less dependent on crude oil pricing than in previous years.”

Trauth noted that the tighter environmental legislation in China and the current tariff battle continue to pressure the supply and pricing of materials coming from that region.

“Regardless, you must find a way to continue supplying your customers with a quality product,” Trauth said. “These logistical issues are nothing new, so developing strong, diversified supplier relationships is essential. Over the years Kustom Group has secured multiple qualified suppliers from across the globe and has developed a robust supply chain to help resolve most supply issues.”

While there have been some notable consolidation and/or closings up and down the supply chain, waxes and additives suppliers say they haven’t seen much impact.

“Through the manufacture of our own wax, the Keim Group has provided a high level of stability to our customers despite these global challenges. The Keim Group is uniquely positioned in this manner,” Grabacki said.

“For the additives business, these consolidations did not have much impact,” said Niederleitner.

“Consolidations have not been an issue this year, although in recent years our industry has dealt with several and they can be a concern,” Trauth added. “Kustom has always worked hard evaluating and field testing alternate raw materials. Based on this work we have established multiple approved suppliers for most key components, although fewer suppliers can be a concern, especially if unique products become shelved or discontinued. In most cases, we already have viable alternative products and the matter is easily handled. If this is not the case, we will work with suppliers to develop an acceptable product for our customers.”

Environmental Concerns

There has been a lot of interest in more environmentally friendly products, and with REACh and other regulations coming on line, suppliers are feeling the impact.

"Recent focus on products that meet compliance with tighter global environmental and regulatory standards have driven us to offer new products in the same performance space we serve," Choo observed. "in keeping with the drive towards greener products, we are profiling our new REACH Compliant powders and dispersions for water based and powder based technologies. They are intended to offer benefits in mar, scratch and abrasion resistance, water repellency, matting, slip, anti-blocking, as well as surface texturing."

“REACh aspects are the standard in Europe and are fulfilled by all of our commercial products. There is a new view on environmental aspects clearly differing between biodegradability and recyclable products, with a clear preference in recyclable products in order to avoid the CO2 impact during the process of biodegrading,” Grabacki said.

“Micro Powders has yet to feel the impact; however, we do see interest in natural and bio-degradable waxes, and of course, alternatives to PTFE,” said McAllister. “Our development efforts are primarily focused on those technologies.”

“Clariant is investing a lot of effort in more environmentally compatible solutions,” said Niederleitner. “We have already launched micronized waxes and additives for printing inks which are based on renewable raw materials.

Also, the upcoming discussion on PFAS- (perfluoroalkyl substances) free solutions for the ink market is a hot topic. The REACh regulations will ban substances containing PFOA (Per-fluoro Octanoic Acid) higher than 25ppb. PFOA can be found in PTFE containing substances and these additives are widely used in the graphic art industry.”

“Differentiating the various requirements like low odor, low migration, Nestle or Swiss compliance, FDA and Prop 65 labeling is a challenge,” Trauth noted. “Confirming compliance and staying updated with suppliers is an ongoing responsibility. Gathering this information is very time consuming, but must be done. Fortunately, Kustom has been diligently working with our suppliers and customers on these issues for many years. The challenge is not only to supply compliant products but as important, these products modified for compliance must perform the same. With frequent communication, up and down the supply chain, we work hard to stay out in front of these issues. “

Tighter environmental regulations also offer an opportunity for innovation.

“Very much so,” said Trauth. “Newly developed products for Prop65-free, BZP-free, BPA-free, Nestle and Swiss compliant have opened doors and developed new opportunities.”

“Tighter regulations do spur innovation,” said McAllister. “We have invested considerable resources to ensure that our PTFE containing waxes will be compliant with EU 2017/1000. This important work was done in concert with the development of PTFE-free composite waxes so that we could offer our customers a choice.”

“There are a lot of opportunities in the future for more innovation,” said Niederleitner. 

“As from the very early beginning, keimgroup focused on the production of environmentally friendly ink and coatings additive, typically with relatively low amounts of emulsifiers and keeping an eye onto various (food contact) regulations, to fulfill the needs of customers,” Grabacki said. “Our amine-free additives together with high FDA-status are of big interest at our customers.”