Major Products: Offset inks, UV/EB-curable inks, highly reactive UV inks, screen inks, inkjet inks, gravure inks, flexo inks, adhesives, laminating adhesives, hot-melt adhesives, electronics adhesives and materials, industrial adhesive tapes & films, marking films, can coatings, hard coatings, functional coating agents, water-based resins, medical adhesive products, natural extracts, organic pigments, pigment dispersions, functional dispersions, plastic colorants, color filter materials for flat panel displays.

Number of Employees: 7,897 (consolidated)..

Comments: On Jan. 1, 2024, artience Co., Ltd, formerly Toyo Ink SC Holdings Co. Ltd., began the new chapter in the company’s 128-year history. During its first full year, artience saw signs of growth throughout the world.

Hideki Ohba, GM Marketing Department, International Division at Toyo Ink Co., Ltd., noted that during 2024, there were signs of an economic recovery worldwide.

“During fiscal 2024, there were signs of a recovery of consumer spending in Japan,” Ohba observed. “The US and Indian economies expanded. Southeast Asia’s economies recovered moderately. In China, supply increased due to policy measures, but the economy remained stagnant.

“In Japan, sales of liquid ink products for pet food and frozen food and for convenience stores continued to indicate solid demand,” Ohba added. “Overseas, sales showed sluggish growth due to a decline in consumption in China and Europe, but there was solid growth in demand in India and Southeast Asia, and even in South Korea, environmentally friendly water-based inks showed a growth in sales,” added Ohba.

Ohba pointed out that sales of products for flyers, advertising, and publishing in Japan were sluggish due to the continued structural contraction of the information-related printing market, but there were improvements on the profit front due to cost cutting through business structure reforms and price revisions made in response to rising raw material prices.

“Sales of functional inks showed growth for card usage, and sales of energy-saving highly sensitive UV curable inks also showed expansion,” added Ohba. “In overseas markets, the Chinese market was slow but sales of products for educational materials increased. In Southeast Asia, sales of functional inks for paper containers and packaging were strong. In Europe and the US, sales of UV curable inks compatible with LED and energy-saving UV curable inks remained strong.”

The artience Group had plenty of highlights during the past year. artience featured inkjet technology at drupa 2024 and had a good turnout in Dusseldorf. Since the 1990s, the artience Group has been driving the development of industrial inkjet inks, including its own pigments and polymers, and has built a solid reputation for OEM production excellence with several companies in the digital print industry.

“In recent years, we have expanded our inkjet production and support network to include state-of-the-art facilities in India, the US and China,” Ohba added. “This makes it possible to provide the same high-quality product to all of our customers in any part of the world.”

In April 2025, Toyo Printing Inks inaugurated its new 62,500-square-meter production facility site in Manisa in western Turkey. Built with an investment of USD$70 million, the new plant significantly boosts Toyo Printing Inks’ production and innovation capabilities.

“Our products are used in many areas in the food packaging and wrapping industries. In this period when the packaging and wrapping industry is growing, we will be able to reach wider markets thanks to Turkey’s strategic location,” said Satoru Takashima, CEO of artience Group, adding that technologies such as water-based inks and high-performance inks intended for metal packaging are among the products to be produced in the second phase.

artience plans to use funds for new investments for FY2025 or FY2026 for pressure-sensitive adhesives in India, the new plant in Turkey and for sensors, including a polymer pilot building in Kawagoe and a facility in Moriyama, both in Japan.

In March 2025, Hiroyuki Hamada became director VP of artience. Since assuming this position, he has carried out business execution and supervised artience management with a high level of acuity and expertise in management strategy.

As for growth areas, the artience Group aims to capture growth in India and Southeast Asia in packaging materials.

“In China, we will rebuild the collaborative system among our business sites to enhance production, sales and technology and achieve further growth,” Ohba noted. “We will accelerate our market expansion from Turkey to Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) following the commencement of operations at a new plant in Turkey. Meanwhile, we will develop environmentally friendly products in anticipation of emerging customer needs for these products.”

Ohba said that in printing and information, artience aims to further improve efficiency in anticipation of a continued contraction in Japan’s information-related printing market.

“To achieve this, we are considering forming alliances,” Ohba continued. “We also intend to take steps to expand the sales of UV and LED curable inks to address the demand for energy-saving solutions and develop sheetfed printing inks and functional coatings that contribute to plastic reduction. We will also accelerate our expansion into markets outside of Japan and the development of products for the paper container and packaging market.”

Ohba noted that tariff changes have had a limited impact on artience’s operations. “However, we continue to monitor the global trade environment closely and are prepared to adjust our supply and production strategies if needed,” Ohba added.

Meanwhile, Ohba pointed out that the economy is expected to continue its moderate recovery during the current term, but there is the risk that a downturn will occur due to persistently high interest rates in the US and Europe and the stagnant real estate market in China.

“artience also expects the business environment to be harsh with challenges such as rising prices, the potential impacts of future US policies, and the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East,” Ohba added. “Despite these challenges, we expect to see good growth in net sales and profits in upcoming months as a result of ongoing management measures such as business portfolio transformation, maximization of capital efficiency and cash flow, and the development of the foundations of the company and sustainable management.”

Major Products: Offset inks, UV/EB curable inks, highly reactive UV inks, screen inks, inkjet inks, gravure inks, flexo inks, adhesives, laminating adhesives, hot-melt adhesives, electronics adhesives and materials, industrial adhesive tapes & films, marking films, can coatings, hard coatings, functional coating agents, water-based resins, medical adhesive products, natural extracts, organic pigments, pigment dispersions, functional dispersions, plastic colorants, color filter materials for flat panel displays.

Number of Employees: 7,836 (consolidated)

Comments: It’s been an active year for artience Co., Ltd., formerly Toyo Ink SC Holdings Co. Ltd, beginning with its new name. On Jan. 1, 2024, Toyo Ink SC Holdings Co., Ltd. transformed into artience Co., Ltd., marking the start of a new chapter in the company’s 128-year history.

“artience expresses our desire to realize a future in which everyone can live enriched lives,” said Hideki Ohba, GM of the Global Business Department, Marketing Division at Toyo Ink Co., Ltd. “The new name is instilled with the idea of creating and providing society with ‘value that resonates with the senses’ and moves people’s hearts and minds through the fusion and refinement of art and science.

“The name change expresses to all stakeholders, both inside and outside the company, artience’s strong determination to contribute to a new era, to achieve further growth, and to transform into a company that delivers pioneering value to people around the world with cutting-edge technologies,” Ohba added. “Through this major transformation, we aim to achieve the sustainable growth of both our group companies and society.”

artience had a fairly flat year in terms of sales in 2023, with sales of ¥161.5 billion ($1.02 billion). Ohba reported that packaging ink sales grew to ¥84,292 million and operating profit increased to ¥3,668 million.

“In the liquid ink products market in Japan, demand for packaging materials for pet food and souvenirs remained strong,” Ohba observed. “However, products for food packaging were weak due to restrained purchases among consumers amid rising prices. Sales of products for cardboard boxes were also lackluster as demand for fruit and vegetable applications declined due to extreme heat and surging prices.

“Outside Japan, demand in India was solid and sales also held firm. However, sales of products for food packaging were weak due to sluggish consumption in China. Profitability improved both in Japan and overseas, mainly reflecting cost cutting in production and the revision of selling prices in response to rising raw material prices,” added Ohba.

While domestic sales of products for flyers, advertising, and publishing were sluggish due to the continued structural contraction of the information-related printing market, sales of products for paper containers and packaging were firm, partly attributable to efforts to bolster sales.

“In overseas markets, sales were lackluster, partly due to economic downturn in China caused by property market woes and weak exports,” Ohba said. “However, sales of functional coatings for paper containers and packaging increased. As a result, net sales for the Printing and Information business segment as a whole increased to ¥77,202 million, and operating profit increased to ¥2,373 million.”

Ohba said that water-based products are showing strong growth.

“We have been receiving more requests to test water-based products like Toyo Ink’s AQUA LIONA general-purpose lamination inks by flexographic printers and AQUA ECOL lamination inks by gravure printers,” he added. “In this term, we expect to see more printers, particularly those in Asia, make the transition from solvent- to water-based technology, due to its environmental, economic and safety advantages. Moreover, sales of functional coatings for paper containers and packaging made progress in each region.”

Aside from the name change, artience made significant investments that should help the company continue to grow in key markets.

In March 2023, artience announced that it and its consolidated subsidiary Toyo Ink Thailand concluded a share purchase agreement to wholly acquire Thai Eurocoat Ltd., the top manufacturer of external coatings for non-printed cans in the Thai canned food market.

Through the acquisition, the artience group intends to expand its regional business operations with the aim of becoming the top metal coatings supplier in the ASEAN canned food market.

In April 2024, Toyo Ink India announced plans to expand its production capacity for solvent-based adhesives at the manufacturing site in Gujarat, India. A new production facility at the Gujarat plant is slated to begin operations in April 2026 to boost the Gujarat site’s adhesive capacity by 3.5 times its current output.

On the personnel side, on Jan. 1, 2024, Hideki Yasuda replaced Masato Yanagi as president and representative director of Toyo Ink Co., Ltd., the printing and information, and packaging materials division of the artience group. In addition, Masato Yanagi was named chairman and deputy GM of Jiangmen Toyo Ink Co., Ltd. in China.

Ohba said that the rest of 2024 should see further growth for the artience group.

“In the Packaging Materials segment, the artience group will focus on increasing market share by pioneering environmentally friendly products, such as water-based inks and biomass inks, while tapping growth in markets such as India and Southeast Asia,” Ohba said. “In addition, we plan to expand our business globally by taking advantage of increased supply capacity, such as sales expansion in China through bolstered sales and technology structures and the start of operation of a new plant in Turkey.

“In the Printing and Information segment, the group will take steps to expand in overseas markets, including the overseas expansion of metal decorating inks and the expansion of sales of functional coatings that contribute to plastic reduction, as well as the shift to the paper packaging market,” he noted.