Users of Agfa plates will face a “double-digit” price increase from July.

Since April 2021, the Belgian-headquartered company has been implementing quarterly price increases and surcharges to compensate for “significant cost increases” it has been facing in raw materials, logistics, energy, packaging material and labour.

It says the combination of ongoing efficiency programmes and quarterly price increases has allowed it to compensate for the highest inflationary pressure it has been faced with in decades. “In spite of these efforts, continued and reliable supply of offset plates is not sustainable without further actions,” the company says.

A double-digit increase of the base prices of its offset plates will apply on all orders starting from July 1, 2022.

Offset solutions sales vice president Frederik Dehing says the company is still facing not only historically high costs in raw materials, logistics and energy, but also with “very unpredictable” supply of some key raw materials.

“In order to run a sustainable business, allowing us to guarantee supply, continue to bring innovative products and quality service to our customers, we have no other choice but to increase the base prices of our offset plates.”

To help customers recover part of the increases, Agfa says it is adding new tools to its ECO³ palette of software solutions, allowing its customers to “drastically reduce ink consumption and minimise paper waste.