Fujifilm Imaging Colorants, Inc., a global inkjet ink technology partner to equipment manufacturers, integrators and ink formulators, has announced that its parent company, Fujifilm, will invest $28 million to add a new facility in New Castle, DE, USA, for the production of aqueous inkjet dispersions.

The investment will double Fujifilm’s production capacity of pigment dispersions in the US to meet the fast-growing demand for inkjet printing globally.

Construction of the new facility, which adds 11,000 square feet of new operational space to the Delaware site, began this month and is expected to be operational by summer 2023. Last year, Fujifilm announced the construction of its first dispersion manufacturing facility in the US, which is on schedule to be commissioned by spring 2022. This will expand the company’s existing Europe-based production to the US.

The new announcement brings Fujifilm’s total investment to over $47 million in new production capacity of pigment dispersions at the Delaware site. To support the increase in manufacturing output across the site, Fujifilm Imaging Colorants is adding 30 positions in quality, engineering, production, and administrative roles by the end of 2023 to support operations across both facilities.

Fujifilm’s high purity reactive dispersant (RxD) pigment dispersion products are important to the development of aqueous inkjet inks for a variety of fast-growing inkjet markets, including packaging, textile and commercial printing. They use a proprietary cross-linking technology to lock each pigment particle in a secure polymer cage, resulting in a highly stable dispersion that enables the design of ink formulations that can meet demanding performance requirements. Fujifilm supplies aqueous inks to digital printer OEMs and RxD pigment dispersions to ink formulators.

“We believe that developments in aqueous ink technology will contribute to the transformation of new markets for inkjet,” says Ian Wilkinson, president and chief operating officer, Fujifilm Imaging Colorants. “With this investment, we are further strengthening our position as a major manufacturer of both aqueous ink and core pigment dispersion technologies. Our mission is to ensure that we can support our growing North America and global customer base, to accelerate their success in inkjet.”

“Further expanding our manufacturing capacity for pigment dispersions at our Delaware site will enable us to supply aqueous dispersions and inks to our Americas customers more efficiently,” says Melissa Toledo, general manager, Delaware, Fujifilm Imaging Colorants. “In addition to expanding operations, we look forward to growing our team here with 30 new positions to support our RxD manufacturing with roles in production, engineering and administrative support.”