On November 29, 2007 Columbian Chemicals Corp., a major supplier of black pigments to the printing ink and coatings markets announced a US$0.12/lb increase in the price of all pigment-grade carbon blacks, effective January 1, 2008. The feedstock for the manufacture of carbon black pigment is the heavy by-product of petroleum refining, thus punctuating the upward spiral in the cost of manufacturing printing inks.