From Precious Stone to High-Performance Pigment: The Journey of Ultramarine Blue
Once derived from the semi-precious lapis lazuli stone and treasured by Renaissance artists, ultramarine blue was the pinnacle of vibrant color—rare, radiant, and prohibitively expensive. The 19th-century invention of its synthetic equivalent transformed the pigment world by delivering a reliable, brilliant, and cost-effective alternative. Today, this tradition of innovation and performance continues through Venator’s ULTRAMARINE pigment range—products that combine historical prestige with modern technical excellence.
Bringing Venator ULTRAMARINE to ANZ: DKSH your Local Technical Partner
As the official distributor of Venator’s ULTRAMARINE pigments in Australia and New Zealand, DKSH can offer more than just logistics, we provide regional expertise, tailored support, and a deep understanding of the pigments' performance across applications. Whether for plastics, coatings, cosmetics and more, our technical team is on hand to help formulators, compounders, and manufacturers achieve the ideal balance of color strength, stability, safety, and sustainability.
Why ULTRAMARINE?
One of the most attractive features of ULTRAMARINE pigments is their vibrant and clean hues. Available in blue and violet, they deliver exceptional chromatic purity that elevates any formulation. These pigments also perform reliably under harsh conditions, withstanding temperatures up to 350°C and maintaining color integrity with a lightfastness rating of 7 to 8 on the Blue Wool Scale.
Importantly, they are non-toxic and non-migratory, making them compliant with stringent regulatory standards across the FDA, EU, and EN71, as well as approved for use in cosmetics, including applications that involve sensitive areas. Beyond color, ULTRAMARINE pigments bring practical advantages to formulators. They’re widely used for color correction, helping make whites appear cleaner and brighter, while enhancing the depth and richness of blacks. And with no heavy metals in their composition, they’re an environmentally responsible choice, fully compliant with RoHS directives.
Versatile Grades for Tailored Performance
Venator’s portfolio includes a range of product families tailored to meet specific performance needs. The Premier range is engineered for tight color control, with a Delta E tolerance of 0.5 or less, enabling reliable and repeatable shade matching. For applications that are sensitive to moisture and odors, particularly high-speed or high-temperature plastic processing—the Premier D pigments undergo vacuum drying to achieve moisture levels below 0.05%.
Where fine particle size is critical for dispersion or mechanical properties, Premier F delivers a narrow particle distribution ideal for fibers and engineering polymers. The Prestige line incorporates pigments into a wax or low-molecular resin carrier, offering excellent flow and compatibility in polyolefins, PVC, and styrenics. And for exterior or acid-sensitive applications, Acid-Resistant Grades provide long-term durability and color fastness, even under challenging environmental exposure.
Ultramarine for Plastics: Function Meets Beauty
In plastics, ULTRAMARINE pigments offer far more than aesthetic value. Thanks to their excellent heat resistance, non-warping behavior in polyolefins, and freedom from migrating or bleeding, they’ve become a reliable workhorse for color masterbatch producers and compounders alike.
Their utility goes well beyond just mass tone coloring. A small amount of ULTRAMARINE blue can make white polymers appear fresher and cleaner by offsetting natural yellow undertones. Violet grades add a warmer dimension, and combining blue and violet can yield subtle grey and neutral effects—perfect for sophisticated color work.
And because these pigments are approved for food contact and cosmetic use, they’re suitable for high-compliance markets such as toys, packaging, and hygiene products. ULTRAMARINE pigments for plastics are available in multiple shades and treatments, ensuring tailored performance across different resins and processing methods.
Ultramarine for Coatings: Clean Whites and Transparent Depth
In coatings, ULTRAMARINE pigments offer high chromaticity and transparency, making them especially attractive for decorative and industrial paint systems. They blend exceptionally well with effect pigments and are easy to disperse into a wide variety of solvent and waterborne systems.
One of their standout applications is in color correction. When added in small amounts, ULTRAMARINE blue can reduce the yellow tinge in white paints, making them appear brighter, cooler, and more modern. It’s an elegant solution for formulators looking to boost visual cleanliness without adjusting the entire formulation.
Because these pigments are transparent in clear resins, they also perform beautifully in lacquers over metallic or pearlescent bases. Where opacity is needed, combining them with small amounts of titanium dioxide achieves both depth and coverage. Their excellent light and heat stability make them suitable for both interior and exterior coatings.
Your Local Advantage
As Venator’s authorized ANZ distributor, DKSH brings more than product access, we deliver:
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On-the-ground technical support for troubleshooting and formulation optimization
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Regulatory compliance guidance for sensitive markets like food contact, toys, and cosmetics
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Reliable inventory management to support your supply chain continuity
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Ready to dispatch samples for best selling grade
We are proud to help our customers achieve clean, brilliant, and stable colors using one of the pigment industry’s most historically rich and scientifically advanced materials.
Partner with us to bring the best of Venator ULTRAMARINE pigments to your formulations.
Contact:
Michele Avino (Key Account Manager)
