The company said the increase is a necessary reaction to the cost of the pigment increasing by 70 percent in the last year, with further increases likely.
Sun Chemical explained that the supply of Violet 23 became an issue at the end of 2009, when availability of Carbazole, a key material in its production, decreased in China and India.
Although Carbazole is only used in the pigment industry, the coal tar used in its production is in demand in a variety of other industries, severely limiting its availability.
Felipe Mellado, Chief Marketing Officer of Sun Chemical, commented: “With raw material shortages currently a common theme throughout the industry, Sun Chemical is working hard to offset the impact of cost increases, but it has now become essential to implement a price increase for all products containing Violet 23.
“The majority of ink products affected are in the Liquid Inks market, but significant volumes are also used in Conventional Sheetfed and UV inks. We are doing all we can to work with leading pigment suppliers to manage this situation to lessen the impact to our customers.”
Sun Chemical announced a series of price increases across other product ranges in August, again in response raw material costs caused by supply chain issues.