Printers across the globe are showing signs of optimism as fears of severe recession fade and the demand recovers after the disruption caused by the pandemic.
The 9th Drupa Global Trends Report was by necessity taken before the Hamas atrocities in Israel which has created uncertainty in the region. In a wide ranging survey of printers and industry experts, the authors found that almost all regions are more buoyant than in 2019.
Europe is slightly up on the last report, as befits a more mature economy. The greatest increase in confidence comes from printers in Asia, Africa and South America. This comes too from a general ability to increase prices which leads to greater profitability and higher margins.
The confidence underpins spending plans which are greater for any time since 2017 says the report. As this is the year after the most recent Drupa, this is hardly surprising – visitors see some technology at the exhibition and after deliberation decide to make an investment in the following 12 months.
However, the more recent peak has nothing to do with any impetus provoked by a Drupa. Perhaps investment decisions are not as dependent on a major exhibition as was once thought.
On the other hand what printers are buying is more of what they know rather than opting for newer technologies. The resilience of sheetfed offset volumes, say the authors, “is remarkable”. The importance of digital printing has increased, but it is incremental growth rather than rapid.
In 2014, Drupa reported than 26% of printers derived 25% or more of their revenue from digital printing. This had increased to 29% in 2023, but outside a few companies digital is clearly not the dominant technology. This is especially true in packaging. Here 35% plan to invest in sheetfed litho technology and the same percentage to invest in flexo. In the publishing sector 32% plan to invest in further litho printing and 32% will spend on toner presses.
In commercial printing, the report looks at diversification. Wide format is by far the most popular shift with 35% planning investment in large format and 31% further investment in digital toner printing.
This is supported by growth figures showing that large format inkjet grew 15% by volume in 2023 and that digital toner grew more than 30% for the same commercial print cohort. By contrast there was less than 5% growth in digital print volumes in packaging.
Growth in continuous inkjet volumes was also disappointing at around 6% for commercial printers. This suggests that commercial printers are not yet convinced that inkjet printing can deliver the quality, the flexibility or the cost that they get from sheetfed offset printing.
Drupa’s Global Trends Report is mirrored by the State of the Industry report published in the US during last week’s Printing United exhibition in Atlanta. Presenting the report chief economist at the Printing United Alliance Andrew Paparozzi said that 32.1% of respondents saying they expected business growth over the remainder of 2023 was up from 22.6% last year as fears of recession in the US economy faded.
The US report also reflected the findings of the Drupa research showing the increasing enthusiasm for commercial printers to move into adjacent markets. It reports that 56% of commercial printers are moving into new markets. But the traffic is not all one way: 69% of sign printers are looking at diversification.
