Continuing rises in raw materials costs have been reflected in cross-sector price increases announced in March by three major companies: DuPont, Omnova Solutions and Paccor.
Effective from early March, DuPont Packaging Graphics – one of the world’s leading suppliers of flexographic printing systems in digital and conventional formats – has announced a global price increase for all DuPont Cyrel products. The net increase is up to 5%, depending on the product.
“DuPont Packaging Graphics continues to pursue manufacturing productivity improvements and cost reduction initiatives to offset higher raw materials costs,” the company said.
In the US, effective from March 15, Omnova Solutions’ Specialty Chemicals business announced a price increase of US$0.15 per dry pound for all styrene butadiene emulsion polymers produced in the US and $0.04 per wet pound for all acrylic, styrene acrylic, vinyl acrylic, and vinyl acetate emulsion polymers.
In addition, all vinyl pyridine (VP) latex products produced in the US are to increase by $0.20 per dry pound.
The increases apply to all specialty markets including coatings, tape & adhesives, floor care, graphic arts, nonwovens, textiles, construction, tire cord, and oilfield chemicals.
“This action is necessitated by the continuing escalation in the costs of key raw materials and is in addition to previously announced increases,” an Omnova statement said.
And leading European manufacturer of rigid plastic food packaging Paccor has been forced to increase its prices for polystyrene vending and drinking cups – a decision taken “with very deep regret”, according to Paccor Food Service Europe division MD Chris Hart.
“There is simply no alternative if we want to continue to run a viable business,” said Hart. “We have kept our prices as low as we can for a number of years, but we cannot continue to do so. Our business is hurting.
“Here are the stark facts. Since December, the cost of polystyrene (PS) material has increased by some €250 per tonne. We have faced similar increases when purchasing polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) of €145 and €150 respectively.”
Hart added that there are further increases in polymer prices forecast this year, expected to be in the range of 10-15%, reflecting the continuning rises in oil prices and the weakening Euro to US dollar exchange rate.
“We believe that if we can weather this storm and keep the new prices stable over a five-year period, the market will stabilise and we can remain sustainable,” he said. “We wish to invest in the future, producing quality and innovative solutions for the packaging industry.”
