As some time has passed since the last post, I wanted to give a brief update on the current situation (as far as possible).
No new stock has arrived from Tetenal to date – we and all our fellow retailers are still waiting for our prepaid photographic chemicals.
Fotoimpex was able to secure a final batch of COLORTEC C-41 kits and some professional laboratory chemicals from the insolvency estate in order to remain able to supply colour kits at least.
However, this does not indicate that products will generally be available again.
Harman chemicals now come in different bottles and packaging. This means Harman has found a new production partner. As was to be expected, at a significantly higher price. Tetenal’s productivity is hard to match. That was a team that had been working in perfect harmony for decades, with production facilities perfectly suited to large volumes. Raw materials were pumped from storage tanks in the basement and metered via calibrated flow meters.
You can’t just set that up overnight for photochemistry these days.
ADOX has commissioned a new filling plant and thereby
quadrupled its productivity for liquid chemicals.
Liquid chemicals should be available at all times from January onwards. We have also strengthened our team.
With regard to powder chemicals, a few work processes still need to be adjusted to cope with the current rush.
Since Kodak has completely disappeared from the market, we have reintroduced
D-76 and
HC-110 alongside
X-Tol.
All developers have identical development times and dilutions to the respective ‘original’ and are priced based on Kodak’s last ‘reasonable’ price (i.e. before the speculative prices of recent weeks).
D-76 is additionally formulated with Captura and dissolves in significantly colder water than the original.
HC-110 is available as 110-Professional directly from Fotoimpex. It contains the American formulation that was most recently available in the USA under the Kodak brand. This means it is the “thinner” variant with a shorter shelf life but otherwise identical performance.
Kodak has terminated the licence agreement with the Chinese and found a new licensee.
This is the manufacturer that previously worked for Sino Promise. Something like an “American Tetenal”.
This manufacturer has announced its intention to re-enter the European market with these products.
I suspect that here too, due to additional customs duties, transport costs and the cumbersome regulatory burden (REACH, MSDS, poison control centres, etc.), significant price increases are also to be expected, which is why our ADOX variants – even if Kodak re-enters the market – should find their audience.
ADOX is capable of manufacturing almost any photographic chemical. If anyone misses a particular product from the Tetenal range and there is sufficient market demand for it, we could reproduce it.
There is a survey on this
here.
