Flint Inks has been in India for a long time. It first entered the country in a joint venture with Incowax in 2001. In 2006, Flint acquired 100% of the shares in the joint venture and the company became Flint Group India. It has since grown with a large network of distributors and in the last financial year recorded double-digit growth in turnover. We spoke to Upal Roy, managing director, about Flint and its plans in India at its first outing in Pamex in Mumbai.
Flint’s two business units in India serve the packaging and narrow label web industry, and the print media industry. The former includes flexible packaging inks for both gravure and flexo processes, water-based corrugation inks, and inks for the packaging of commodities such as cement and grain in large sacks that are also normally printed using flexography. UV inks and varnishes are also supplied for the narrow web flexo market for printing labels. Flint is coming up with a separate unit for non-toluene non-ketone based inks for this segment in 2016 in Baroda.
The print media category includes inks for webfed and sheetfed offset printing on newsprint and commercial paper stock. Apart from inks, Flint also sells blankets and a range of pressroom chemicals. Inks and varnishes manufactured in India are exported to other South Asian countries. In this category, Flint is also coming up with a blanket converting unit in Baroda. It has recently introduced the Newsline 435 NT and 435 Turbo. The OEM approved fountain solution formulated with proprietary technology offers superior cleaning and less build-up of contaminants during press even at lowest water settings. “The OEM approved 435 NT and Turbo fountain solution is an example of the Flint India team working closely with the global print media team in Flint to quickly develop a solution to address Fogra requirements in India,” says Roy.
Mergers and acquisitions
Flint Group continued to perform strongly despite difficult market conditions abroad and has managed to increase volume in its packaging markets and solidify on its market leading position with the publication markets. Consolidation, particularly within the established print media markets continued to affect volumes acrossthe board in 2015. However, Flint Group’slong-term strategy continuesto position it well to succeed in 2016.
2015 also witnessed a significant year on the merger and acquisition front with Flint Group announcing a new joint venture in June with Continental Printing Inks and Eagle Ink Systems in South Africa. Operating under the name Flint Group Africa – this new entity combines two of the leading ink and coatings suppliers to the Packaging and Print Media markets in South Africa and the Sub-Saharan region.
In November 2015, Flint Group also announced the acquisition of Xeikon, the digital print specialist, with Flint Group using Xeikon’s products and services forming the foundation of a newly created division to be called Digital Printing Solutions. This new division of Flint Group is aimed to further broaden the group’s conventional and digital printing solutions, offering a unique proposition of equipment, consumables and services across its global markets.
Strong focus on India
“Our management is totally committed towards India and it is for India’s sake and not for any other reasons. We are aware that our brand has the potential to be a bit more visible in the market and our management is serious to make our brand reach our intended consumers. This is because we have got all the solutions needed to create a perfect synergy between inks, plates and chemistry which only few others can offer,” concludes Roy.
