Cost Pressures and Unpredictable Supply Chain Conditions Continue to Disrupt Ink Industry
The last two years have proved to be an extremely challenging period of time for the print industry. Raw Material shortages and multiple price increases, combined with staff shortages caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, created arduous circumstances for all businesses involved in our industry. From printers themselves, to freight companies and suppliers of key raw materials, all were adversely affected. After over two years experiencing the challenges that the global pandemic presented, the more optimistic amongst us had hoped that 2022 would present some stabilization in the print supply chain, however, as we move in to the second quarter of the year, this stabilization is yet to materialize, and is unlikely in the near future whilst the tragic events in Ukraine continue to develop. Not only are the trials of the Covid-19 pandemic still with us, but rising inflation, increasing fuels costs, huge demand for packaging of all types and a global energy crisis have further increased the burdens faced by suppliers to the print industry. These increases, in some cases, have been so astronomic that it is not possible for any supplier to absorb, and ultimately, the increased costs have been passed down the supply chain.