Demand for gravure inks will grow at around 9%

One of the interesting scenes of the 6th Beijing International Printing Technology Exhibition, when the domestic visitors flocked to the offset printing demonstration sites of Heidelberg, Manroland and Cobb, their foreign counterparts frequently stopped in domestically produced concaves. Before the printing press, the crew-type shaftless wide-width gravure printing machine unveiled by Shaanxi Beiren attracted especially countless blue eyes. Beijing Exhibition and other domestic packaging and printing exhibitions in recent years have delivered a common message. The domestic gravure printing machine market has basically been controlled by domestic manufacturers. The Fuji era is no longer returning.

Gravure printing accounted for 15% of the European and American printing market, followed by offset printing (35%) and flexo printing (32%), accounting for 22% in China, second only to offset printing (42%). The gravure ink is thick, full of ink, full color, bright color, strong printability for the general promotion of the printing industry, coupled with the continuous decline in the price of gravure printing machine and plate making, printers and end users to reach a consensus on gravure printing methods, many batches Large offset paper products turn to gravure, and high quality plastic work pieces are also optional.

Strong market application potential and machine production and marketing capabilities all indicate that gravure printing inks are full of opportunities. Mr. Qiu Kejia, Sales Director of Hanghua Ink Chemical Co., Ltd., said gravure ink accounted for 1/4 of the company's total production, and the growth came from cigarette packs and Flexible packaging printing. Shen Shan Yuzhi, general manager of Shenzhen Shenri Ink Co., Ltd., said that traditional offset and gravure printing inks are DIC's key products in China, and Shenzhen DIC, Shanghai DIC and Taiyuan Gao's three ink-making plants can produce 10,000 tons of gravure ink each year.

In 2004, the rise in crude oil caused the cost of domestic resin and printing raw materials to soar. Tons of toluene rose by 3,000 yuan to 8,000 yuan, ethyl acetate rose by 6,000 yuan to 11,000 yuan, and isopropyl alcohol rose by 5,000 yuan to 12,000 yuan. The total consumption of gravure ink for gravure packaging decreased, the sales volume of high-priced gravure ink dropped sharply, the supply price was in short supply, and there was a shortage of low price due to suspension of production at the ink factory. The profit margin of ink has become smaller, and sales of many mid-priced manufacturers have increased and losses have increased. DIC, Dongyang is a high-end intaglio printing ink, Shanxi Eagle, Zhejiang New Oriental prices in the middle, low-priced ink manufacturers have more than 100. In order to avoid the passiveness of the upstream price increase, after the DIC Group invested in the construction of a resin production plant, it also established a pigment production plant in Nantong, Jiangsu Province to realize the nationalization of raw material production.

Despite the negative impact of rising prices of raw materials, the total domestic gravure ink consumption in 2004 reached 60,000 tons, and the industry's forecast for growth in the next few years will remain at around 9%.