Huber re-launches Iray brand; available in India soon

During a recent webinar hosted by PrintWeek one thing was clear, the flexo market is growing. As one of the speakers said, "We see strong increase in the UV flexo market. In Europe, for example, the growth rate is more than 5%, which is remarkable compared to other ink segments. And I expect the market for UV flexo applications to continue to grow within the next few years."

To meet this development, Hubergroup Print Solutions is re-launching its UV flexo portfolio. In the course of the re-launch under the iray brand, the international printing ink specialist - with manufacturing plants in Vapi - has improved the performance of its products but has also added primers, adhesives and low-migration printing inks as well as varnishes for food packaging to its portfolio.

The Iray products cover a wide range of applications and are characterised by high scratch resistance, good adhesion, low odour values and high-yield inks. In addition, they are designed for fast printing and rapid finishing. UV-curable flexographic inks and varnishes for food packaging are brand new in the portfolio of the printing ink specialist. Thanks to intensive research and carefully selected raw materials, they meet the Hubergroup's high MGA (low migration and low odour) guidelines, which have stood for safe application on food packaging for many years.

Alexander Blasek, global project manager UV Flexo at Hubergroup said, "While UV flexo printing is gaining importance all over the world, we can see differences in terms of technology and applications. LED products are in general increasingly in demand, but North America and Europe are in the lead here. In the EU, which is a forerunner in terms of regulatory standards, Food Contact Material (FCM) applications dominate the UV flexo market. Additionally, we found that electron beam (EB) curing is more popular in the US than in the rest of the world. In the Asian, African, and South American markets, mercury technology still clearly prevails. The Asian and African markets also differ somewhat in terms of applications, preferring complex print images with more ornamentation."

Alexander Blasek spoke about the deinkability on film and paper. He said, "Sustainability is a requirement of printers and brand owners." He added, "With the help of numerous laboratory tests, we have therefore ensured that our inks and varnishes are deinkable on film and paper."

In addition, the PMV department of the Technical University of Darmstadt certified that the products can be deinked on paper using INGEDE Method 11.

Hubergroup has been offering UV flexo inks for more than 10 years. In the last few years, the ink major has been involved with UV flexo inks and varnishes for food packaging. The group is working on several market launches in 2022, which meet the highest requirements for FCM (Food Contact Material) applications.