The past five years have been difficult for supply chains. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the challenges in the raw material supply chain, but the problems have been going on before the pandemic. Before the pandemic, there were a variety of problems in certain raw materials. For example:

• In 2017, titanium dioxide was hard to get for ink manufacturers as a result of consolidation among Chinese TiO2 manufacturers and a fire at a major plant in Finland.
• In 2018, photoinitiators became scarce, as one of the major manufacturers producing the precursor for TPO and TPO-L was shut down by the Chinese government.
• In 2019, an explosion at a Chinese pesticide plant led to the shutdown of that industrial park as well as similar businesses. This led to a shortage of pigments, pigment intermediates and photoinitators.
• All during this, the trucking industry has been a concern, as the industry hasn’t been able to keep up with the loss of drivers due to retirement.

That brings us to 2020, and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the pandemic, some countries went into lockdown, which cut supply of key ingredients. The ability to ship products was also disrupted, as containers weren’t where they were needed and ports were jammed. Today, the war in the Ukraine continues to impact the world.

Essentially, the end result was higher prices and uncertain shipments. Now, as I report in “The Raw Material Market in 2022,” which begins on page 22, the news is mixed, which is in itself better news.

For the most part, pricing is finally stabilizing a bit, and shipments are starting to catch up. However, purchasing departments are not out of the woods yet, and it remains to be seen whether the supply chain will eventually become more stable.

The October 2022 issue features Ink World’s annual Buyers’ Guide, which is the ink industry’s most complete listing of raw materials, equipment and services, distributors and trade associations. In addition, you can find our annual Buyers’ Guide online at ajay.ink.rodmanadmin.com. We hope you find it to be very helpful!