The ink market in the Asia-Pacific region continues to grow
2023/5/25
The ink industry leaders expect the growth in the Asian market to continue.
Ashish Pradhan, President of Siegwerk Asia, states that the printing market, especially the packaging-related printing market, has performed quite well in terms of demand. Pradhan points out that India remains Siegwerk's largest and fastest-growing market in the Asian region, with Indonesia and Vietnam also showing growth trends.
Pradhan says, "Overall, we see strong demand in most Asian countries that has recovered and even exceeded pre-COVID levels. Although the challenges faced by the entire supply chain have reduced and stabilized, we are still grappling with high input costs. During the period from 2021 to 2022, the printing ink market passed on the increasing input costs to customers, which is usually challenging and continues to be so till today."
Pradhan further states, "The printing and ink markets are further developing towards food safety and circular economy themes. With the trend towards paperization, paper printing is becoming more mainstream, which further drives the demand for different ink systems. From the perspective of product safety regulations or food safety, this means that inks must be free of mineral oils, toluene, or benzophenone."
Hirofumi Ozaki, Manager of the Overseas Division of T&K Toka, states, "Packaging printing in all countries is showing steady growth, and the growth of energy-saving UV inks is also evident. Although it has not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels, business recovery in various countries is good."
Katsuya Tanaka, General Manager of the International Business Division at Sakata Inx, also notes that economic activities in many countries in the region are beginning to recover from the stagnation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tanaka adds, "With the recovery of demand, the market as a whole has been growing, especially in the packaging ink sector. In most regions, the sales of packaging inks are growing beyond pre-pandemic levels. Apart from the impact of lockdowns, the sales of packaging inks initially did not suffer major disruptions due to the pandemic. On the contrary, our packaging ink business has remained stable in many cases due to the demand for home-based products."
"On the other hand, commercial printing ink sales are weak," Tanaka continues, "This is due to the restrictions on economic activities, resulting in reduced activities and advertising opportunities. The digitalization triggered by the pandemic has also made further progress. Although commercial ink sales seem to be recovering with the restoration of economic activities, they have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels."
Lina Gu, General Manager of Flint Group China and Southeast Asia, says, "International tourism in Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia is starting to pick up. However, due to a 3.1% inflation rate and increased cost of living, consumer spending has shifted towards basic necessities such as food, beverages, and medicines."
She also states, "In Southeast Asia, the food packaging printing is developing well, especially products like boxes, trays, cups, cartons, and flexible packaging. The health and personal care markets are influenced by changes in purchasing behavior. We believe that the food, aseptic, and pharmaceutical packaging markets are the strongest-growing markets."
Ozaki says that T&K Toka pays special attention to the Vietnamese market. "With large populations
and relatively stable economies, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam have become the fastest-growing markets in the region, especially in terms of packaging inks."
Jose Novo, Key Account Manager at Toyo Ink Group, reports that as information becomes digitized, the ink market in advanced countries is shrinking, but there is still hope for growth in emerging markets.
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