AIPIMA appeals to printers to accept price revisions
India’s printing ink sector is facing a cost crisis of “serious magnitude,” threatening continuity of supply across the entire printing and packaging supply chain, according to a formal appeal from the All India Printing Ink Manufacturers Association (AIPIMA). The trade body has urgently called upon printers, brand owners, and industry associations to accept immediate price revisions, citing a destabilisation of global raw material markets driven by ongoing geopolitical conflicts.
11 Mar 2026 | 1564 Views | By Prabhat Prakash
In a circular dated 6 March, 2026, AIPIMA highlighted a confluence of global factors that have rendered continued supply at pre-crisis prices commercially unsustainable. The core issue stems from the volatility of crude oil and petrochemical prices and supply, which are essential raw materials for virtually all categories of printing ink.
As per the circular shared with PrintWeek, the crisis is being compounded by four primary pressures. Sustained multi-year highs in crude oil prices are directly driving up the cost of industrial solvents and resins crucial to ink production. Restrictions on the export of critical pigment and resin intermediates from China are tightening supply and raising costs for key components such as Phthalocyanine and Quinacridone organic pigments.
Furthermore, the rerouting of global shipping lanes around conflict zones has sharply increased freight costs, adding to the import burden. Finally, a weaker rupee is exacerbating import-linked cost increases, affecting everything from Ethyl Acetate for solvent-based inks to Rosin for offset inks.
A breakdown of the impact shows a wide-ranging crisis. Gravure inks are affected by supply cuts in conflict zones, which are disrupting the supply of components such as Toluene and PU Resins. Water-based inks are experiencing monomer shortages and higher freight costs, while speciality products such as offset and flexographic UV/EB inks are feeling the pinch from China/Europe export curbs on acrylate monomers and photo-initiators.
AIPIMA noted that Indian ink manufacturers — from MSMEs to larger producers — have exhausted their capacity to absorb these pressures through internal efficiencies and deferred margins.
To stabilise the supply chain, the Association has issued a three-pronged plea. AIPIMA's secretary, Bhaumik Nalin Mehta, said these include: "To enter into immediate, good-faith discussions with suppliers on revised pricing, warning that delay is not a neutral choice and threatens supply continuity." Mehta added, "To officially recognise the price revisions at the ink level as both unavoidable and legitimate, and to absorb a fair share of these costs to maintain the reliability and quality of the printing they depend upon."
The circular said it hoped for the premier print associations like the Bombay Master Printers' Association (BMPA), Mumbai Mudrak Sangh (MMS), All India Federation of Master Printers (AIFMP), and Ahmedabad Printing Association (APA) to issue formal advisories to their members, directing them to engage constructively with ink partners.
Mehta concluded the circular by noting its broad reach to all AIPIMA members, industry associations, and printing-industry stakeholders across India. The intervention underscores a critical inflexion point for India’s printing sector as it navigates persistent global economic and geopolitical turbulence.