Miraclon has announced a price increase of 6% on all its products, as well as the introduction of temporary freight surcharges, as it looks to maintain an uninterrupted supply of flexographic plate material despite the rising cost of raw materials, energy, labour and distribution.
The company says that the increase, which will be effective from 7 February, is a necessary action intended to ‘pass the increased costs along in a manner that is as fair and equitable as possible to customers.’
Chris Payne, the CEO of Miraclon, commented, ‘Securing supply for our customers is our overriding priority. After weighing a combination of factors, we are taking two separate actions, because there are two different market forces at work. First, we’re raising the price of all our products to address the higher costs for raw materials, labor, utilities, and business services we are now paying. Second, we’re implementing temporary surcharges in response to the current higher costs as a result of the significantly extended supply chain and raised prices for distribution and freight services. We believe that increased costs are a temporary situation that will moderate, and as soon as we are able to, we will reduce, or remove, the surcharges. We are confident this strategy is in the best interests of our customers, the supply chain and Miraclon.’
Miraclon says that, throughout the Covid period, it has taken steps to ensure it could fulfil the growing demand for Flexcel NX technology, including increasing production at its manufacturing sites, continuously reviewing its distribution networks and exploring different options and modes of transport to accelerate distribution.
Mr Payne concluded, ‘Miraclon has been absorbing the standard inflation and costs since the introduction of the Flexcel NX System. Throughout this pandemic period, despite our costs rising continuously, we have taken all measures within our control to absorb price rises without passing them on to our customers. Unfortunately, this is no longer possible. We have taken this decision with great reluctance and careful thought about how best to implement the increase in a balanced and proportionate manner. Because transparency is important to us, and we want our customers to understand the economic and commercial background to the increase, and the factors that we considered, we’ve created an online resource page to provide more information and help them navigate the current industry challenges.’
