Fujifilm to increase plate prices
Fujifilm Europe has announced it will be increasing the price of its offset printing plates as raw aluminum costs continue to rise. From 1 September, the Japanese-headquartered manufacturer will be increasing the price of offset printing plates by up to 10%, with the actual increase being passed on to printers dependent on the local market situation.
In a statement, Fujifilm said that the last 12 months had seen an increase of more than 20% in the euro-based cost of raw aluminum, the primary material for its plates, and that while it had been working tirelessly to improve internal efficiencies to try and absorb the impact, the process improvements had not been sufficient to avoid the action.
Fujifilm is not the only manufacturer feeling the effect of increased raw materials costs. In its Q2 results announcement earlier this month, Kodak put a decline in sales in its Print Systems Division down to “increased pricing pressure and the higher costs of aluminum”, while in Agfa’s half-year results released earlier this week it cited “overall competitive pressure in offset plates”.
FESPA goes after North American memberships
FESPA has launched Fespa Direct, a new service that allows printers outside its association countries to have member benefits. Fespa ( Sign Association out of Europe) has 37 member associations around the world. Fespa also run seven major wide format trade shows around the world. The world’s largest in Germany. They have an association and show in Mexico but have not been successful in US or Canada. This appears to be an attempt to break into the US market. The FESPA Direct membership includes technical support, courses’ forums, Technology guides, environmental guidance ,discounts to FESPA awards and discounts to FESPA trade shows around the world. Also free access to FESPA’s Print Census- the largest wide-format print research projects
