The world’s litho press producers have all reported success at the China Print exhibition in Beijing, providing relief against the uncertainty caused by ongoing trade uncertainty with the US. The unresolved question of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, now up to 50% on goods from the EU within a month, will hit Germany’s press manufacturers directly, while those from Japan also face tariffs, though not to the same extent – currently.
The flush of orders and strong business from the exhibition will be welcome in all quarters, particularly for litho presses where digital has been considered stronger in the more mature markets of late.
Heidelberg reckons to have sold almost 350 printing units during the five-day show, giving the company a strong start to its financial year. This included two XL106 machines representing 13 units combined, an existing customer ordering 19 units of XL75 across two machines, a 13-unit CX104. This will be produced at the Heidelberg factory in China while the XL series machines are manufactured in Germany.
While the attention was on packaging configurations, unsurprisingly given the sector is growing at 4%pa in the country, commercial presses were given an airing with Heidelberg showing the Jetfire 50 for the first time in the country. It was sold to Shengda Printing Technology, a leading web to print business in China.
Koenig & Bauer has reported strong sales for Rapida sheetfed press across all formats. Centrepiece of the stand was an eight-unit plus coater Rapida 105. There were samples from the Varijet 106, from metal decorating and flexo presses.
The company picks out two sales, both of six-colour presses, one for a Rapida 105 with a bespoke sheet format, the other a Rapida 164 large format press.
The orders are welcomed by the company providing as they do “a stable order situation” despite the global challenges. The leads and conversations taking place at the show are providing confidence that further business is in the offing.
This is the case too with Manroland Sheetfed. It showcased a Roland 700 Evolution with eight units and coater and configured for maximum flexibility and minimal environmental impact.
It too signed deals at the show and reports a strong set of inquiries to follow up.
The two Japanese press suppliers had brought multiple machines, replicating their presence at Drupa last year. Komori introduced a press that had not been seen in Germany. This was the Lithrone GX29, a press configured for carton printing and with an extended sheet size for this purpose. This was alongside the current flagship model, the Lithrone G20 Advantage, presented as a seven-colour plus coater press.
The latest B2 inkjet machine, the J-Throne 29 which had debuted in Germany last year, completed the line up. All were managed through a central console to highlight Komori’s thoughts about a Smart Factory and automation through Komori Connect.
RMGT went one larger in the press stakes with an eight-unit 106 model with twin coaters and LED UV curing. This was for the carton market while the SRA1 970
ST was shown as a five-colour machine, alternating between carton and commercial work.
The market is not entirely litho, though the technology remains strong because of the size of the market and technological status of most companies. HP brought its full portfolio of Indigo presses from the entry level 6K to the 120K along with the 200K for flexible packaging, V12 for labels and 18K for value add print. These were joined by the Advantage 2200 PageWide inkjet press.
The technology offered by western manufacturers has almost squeezed out domestic producers, but not quite fully. Beiren Intelligent took interested visitors to its factory nearby where three web presses were put through their paces, the 50A for small newspapers up to a twin web heatset press running at 40,000 signatures an hour.
