Fujifilm Europe today announces that, as a result of sustained and substantial increases in the costs of raw materials and logistics, it will be increasing the surcharge on its aluminium offset printing plates by an average of €0.70 per square metre from 1st November, 2021.
Fujifilm has been working hard to absorb material price increases by reducing its own operating costs and improving productivity. However, in the case of aluminium, the sheer magnitude of rising costs can no longer be sustained in this way. Fujifilm will continue to mitigate other rising costs, such as exchange rate fluctuations, energy and paper.
Fujifilm will base its plate surcharges on the London Metal Exchange rate, which will be reviewed monthly. Details of the new structure will be communicated to all customers across EMEA.
For printers looking for certainty in plate pricing over the long term, a stable plate price is available via Fujifilm’s Platesense program; an initiative where Fujifilm manages various elements of a printer’s pre-press operation, including plate supply and collection of scrap, for a fixed monthly fee, helping businesses manage their plate production more efficiently, and ultimately reduce costs.
Taku Ueno, Senior Vice President at Fujifilm Graphic Systems EMEA says: “Earlier this year we informed our customers of an increase in our raw materials and logistics costs. Over recent months the situation has evolved to an unprecedented level. While this is unfortunate, and we certainly understand that these conditions are hugely difficult for our customers, the new surcharge will be offset by the increase in the value of scrap aluminium.”
