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Ink giant Sun Chemical yesterday set out its stall in the food packaging market with the official opening of a new EUR4m production facility for low-migration inks.

Sun Chemical chief executive Rudi Lenz cut the ribbon on the factory in Frankfurt, which has been producing ink since just before Christmas and has been in the pipeline for around two years.

The plant, on the site of a former conventional inks facility, has been built to respond to growing demand for super-safe low-migration inks and to increasingly tough EU regulation on odour and contaminants for food packaging.

It is being described as a "white tile" plant and has been built to similar safety specifications as food manufacturing facilities, incorporating a range of measures such as air-lock doors, pressurised atmosphere and high levels of quality control.

Lenz said the plant's output would help packaging printers respond to the "tremendous pressures" they are facing at present. "Our investment in the Frankfurt plant shows our commitment to providing excellence for our customers."

The plant is expected to primarily serve the European market, but its products will also ship to Sun Chemical's other markets in North America, Latin America and the MEA region.

Lenz added that the group would "absolutely" consider building a similar facility in North America if the legislative environment there made the investment worthwhile.

The facility employs 135 staff and is Sun Chemical's most technologically advanced plant.

Scroll down to see pictures from the site. For more on Sun Chemical, see the April issue of Packaging News.

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