10.15.09
TWGA Report Examines Ink and Toner Usage
TrendWatch Graphic Arts (TWGA) released an in-depth report which analyzes the printing and packaging industries by dissecting the usage of inks and toners. The reports includes market share data for key commercial printing industry segments such as inplants, commercial printers, heatset and nonheatset, duplicator and newspapers markets, and uses inks and toners to identify critical trends in the printing and packaging industry.
Trend analysis indicates that while the overall number of printing firms is declining, the percentage of larger printing companies (20+ employees) continues to be on the rise across the board. And while larger printing firms are growing, the number of flexible package printing plants and converting trade shops has decreased by 7 percent since 1995.
According to the report:
• Printers with Digital Presses: 28 percent of their work is run on digital presses, while 42 percent is run on sheetfed presses.
• Offset Color: 12.7 percent of all offset jobs are printed with five or more colors.
• Sheetfed Presses: 54 percent of jobs in the offset industry are run on sheetfed presses.
• Trade Shops: 40.7 percent of jobs being printed by trade shops are done on sheetfed presses.
• Total Ink Shipments: Litho and offset ink garners 41.7 percent of the share, while flexo comes in second with 24.1 percent.
The Inks and Toners Report offers readers a comprehensive look at the state of the ink and toner market, broken down by key commercial printing and packaging ink categories; accurate market share data in key categories – sheetfed, offset duplicators, UV and EB inks, heatset and nonheatset web and the inplant markets; changes in commercial printers’ ink and toner use: which inks and toners printer use, don’t use and plan to use more or less over the coming years; printers’ job mixes and the breakdown in amount of color used for their jobs a comprehensive section on market demographics, with total number of establishments in key printing and packaging market segments; and data on printers’ planned investments and sales opportunities as related to the future use of various printing technologies.
“Although focusing on the ink and toner industry, the market information in this report has wide-ranging applicability to press manufacturers, commercial printers, trade shops, digital printers, press auxiliary manufacturers and suppliers supporting the printing and publishing markets,’ said Vince Nasellis, director, TrendWatch Graphic Arts. “In addition to the ink specific data, the report offers demographics, planned investments, sales opportunities and forecasts for future use. Anyone needing a solid sense of the printing and packaging markets for company positioning, developing new business models and better targeting their marketing dollars to current and new customer bases will appreciate what this report has to offer.”
Data for this report was generated from the latest government data available – U.S. Economic Census (1997) and 2002 U.S. Annual Survey of Manufacturers – as well as research from the TWGA Printing Survey and Historical Databases. Market demographics were garnered from the Graphic Arts Blue Book. Ink supplier market share data is drawn from National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM) 2002 State of the Industry report and Ink World market data.
The 136-page TWGA Inks and Toners report is available for purchase at the TWFA web site in PDF format or by calling (866) 873-6310. The price of the report is $1595. For more information about this and other TWGA reports, go to www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com or e-mail: info@trendwatchgraphicarts.com.
NAPL Reports Printing Industry Remains Weak
The commercial printing industry remains weak, according to the latest economic indicators from the Printing Business Panel of the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL). The disappointing performance indicates that the recovery expected later this year will be less robust than previously predicted, with sales expected to grow 2.5 percent at most in 2003. The economic analysis comes from NAPL’s Printing Economic Research Center (PERC), which produces research and publications sponsored by Heidelberg, Kennesaw, GA.
Sales fell 0.3 percent in March for the NAPL Printing Business Panel, following declines of 2.0 percent in February and 3.4 percent in January. Year-to-date, panel sales are down 1.9 percent. In April, prices fell for 45.5 percent of the printers surveyed, with only 10.2 percent reporting a price increase. Profitability fell in April for 49.5 percent of the survey group—more than double the 19.9 percent that reported a rise in profitability. This is due largely to costs that are rising more quickly than either prices or productivity.
“Although sales losses are not nearly as deep as they during the first quarter of 2002, when sales fell 8.9 percent overall and 10.4 percent in March alone, that’s slight consolation for an industry that hasn’t seen meaningful growth in nearly three years,” said Andrew Paparozzi, NAPL vice president and chief economist.
The NAPL Printing Business Index (PBI), the Association’s broadest measure of print activity, stood at 44.5 in April, essentially unchanged from 44.4 in March and 44.8 in April. The PBI has now been below the critical 50.0 mark for six consecutive months. (A reading above 50 means more printers report business is picking up than report business is slowing down.)