The flexographic ink market in the United States has a promising future

According to a recent survey conducted by Market Consulting Co., Ltd., the consumption of flexo printing inks in the United States is expected to increase at a rate of 4% per year from the present to several years in 2006. This is the result of a long period of research conducted by the Manchester Research Center in the United States and VT. It has now been published in the "Ink Ink Industry," the fourth issue of the 2003 issue.

The growth rate of flexo ink is about the same as that of other types of inks. The inkjet ink is expected to have a slightly higher growth rate than flexo ink, about 8%, screen printing ink 4%, offset printing ink 3%, and gravure printing ink only 0.5%. %, while letterpress printing inks will lose larger markets and there may be negative growth (-1.0%).

The Output Value of US Printing Ink for 1992-2001 and the Average Output Value and Annual Growth Rate for 2001-2006 (in millions of US dollars)
Year Flat Print Flexo Gravure Screen Printing Emboss Inkjet Miscellaneous
1992 1395 645 610 NA 140 NA NA
1996 1955 776 525 NA 138 NA NA
2000 1845 1069 654 NA 158 125 442
2001 1770 1020 620 180 130 150 440
2006 2050 1245 635 220 120 225 455

Growth rate in 2001-2006 3.0% 4.0% 0.5% 4.0% -1.0% 8.0% 4.0%

The consumption of ink will increase at a rate of 3.1% per year over the next five years, and the output value will increase from 4.238 billion US dollars in 2001 to 4.95 billion US dollars. Digital printing inks will continue to grow in the future as they can be widely used in flexo printing and other types of printing. In the next few years, it is estimated that it will increase rapidly at a rate of 10% annually.

The study also pointed out that flexo printing has become the main printing method in many aspects. Improvements in process technology, such as photographic resin plates and computer-to-plate technology, have also promoted the popularity of flexographic printing. The photosensitive resin plate material can ensure that the network expansion is to reduce dot gain; and the computer-to-plate technology omits the process of film out, thereby ensuring better reproduction of the fine art design and making the printing quality perfect; in addition, like digital printing plate Material ensures better color separation and avoids misprints and dot gains. According to the statistical data in the Ranch report: In 2001, the total consumption of flexo ink in the world was 445 billion pounds, worth US$ 1.02 billion.

Demand for flexo inks continues to grow As new ink and printing technologies change with each passing day, flexo printing has become a very influential printing method. This shows that the continuous development of flexographic printing equipment will prompt the printing industry's demand for new flexo printing inks to be more urgent, and the demand will naturally increase gradually.

According to Rauch's report, the market for flexo inks is mainly in paper bags and multi-layered cartons, which are mostly based on flexographic printing. In addition, flexographic printing is also widely used in the printing of corrugated boxes and flexible packaging, which accounts for 75% of all printing methods, 50% in the fields of labels, bills, and tape printing, and 45% in gift wrap printing. Flexo inks are also used in commercial printing in some newspapers and magazines, but flexo inks still account for only 3% of the total commercial ink application.

The average market price of flexo inks is 2.25 US$/lb, which is lower than that of corrugated paper printing inks. High-film printing inks are used in flexible packaging printing inks. The market consulting company also predicts that 90% of flexo inks will be used in packaging printing, including 35% corrugated cardboard cartons, 20% folding cartons, health lunch boxes, and individual service-type products; in addition, 35% will be applied Coated printing of plastic bags, food bags and labels.

Water-based inks and UV inks account for more than 25% of the total ink volume, which has been well documented in flexo package printing. According to the Rauch report, in the field of flexo packaging printing, flexo inks accounted for 70%; water-based inks are also widely used in printing plastic bags and labels, where it accounts for 60% of the total amount of ink; and in film printing water Base inks account for about 35% of the market.

The report shows that water-based inks and varnish printing have developed relatively quickly because they meet the requirements of environmental protection regulations. Printers are well aware that water-based ink products are the most practical. They achieve the allowable range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), reduce waste, and satisfy storage and transportation safety requirements.

Overall, radiation curable ink consumption in 2001 is expected to be 35 million pounds, worth US$120 billion. The growth rate of radiation-cured inks is expected to be higher than that of other special types of inks. The successful application of UV inks is in the narrow-width rotary label printing market consulting firm estimates that more than half of new devices are equipped with UV devices, which means that the consumption of UV inks will increase rapidly.

According to a report from a market consulting firm, these inks have the fastest growth in UV flexo printing due to better performance and quality. This report also shows that: UV flexo inks, in contrast to solvent inks and water-based inks, will lead to better printing results under certain conditions. Although UV flexo inks are 1% less than flexo inks, they grow at about 10% per year. On the other hand, because it is a volatile organic compound itself, it is only suitable for short-run printing.

New Inks According to the Rauch report, there are also some new inks that are expected to become the main “invaders” in the traditional ink industry. This mainly includes the following types:

1. The metal ink market consulting company expects the consumption of metal ink in 2001 will be 35 million US dollars. As with flexographic printing, metallic inks have grown rapidly in packaging and printing because the products appeal to consumers.

2. Anti-counterfeit inks Anti-counterfeit inks are mainly used to print tickets that require anti-counterfeiting, such as checks, stocks, and certificates. In 2001, sales of anti-counterfeit inks reached US$65 million. The future growth rate will remain at around 10%.

3. Electronic ink Electronic ink is different from conventional ink, which is a microcapsule particle suspended in a liquid. Wherein the liquid is oppositely charged, when the opposite charge is applied, the microcapsule particles are attracted to the surface of the substrate. By applying different charges, some of the microcapsule particles are the same in brightness and darkness, and after the power is turned off, an image is formed. It is expected that in some terminal applications, electronic ink will make great progress.

4. Waterless inks Waterless inks are widely used in the short-format color printing of single-sheet feeding. It can provide faster conversion cycle, better continuity and perfect printing quality. Although water-free ink is not new, it still does not have a large user base due to the limitation of plate material utilization, and its share in the entire ink market is less than 1%. The report shows that due to certain environmental advantages, waterless ink will grow to a certain extent with the development of computer-to-platemaking technology, especially in short-run printing.

Ink manufacturers based on the Impact Marketing survey, the ink industry a total of more than 200 ink manufacturers. The top 29 ink manufacturers in the United States had sales of more than 20 million U.S. dollars, accounting for 79% of the total ink sales in 2001; only the top 10 manufacturers accounted for 65%. Although ink producers in this industry are already approaching saturation, new manufacturers are still entering this field every year. With the increasing popularity of digital printing, some companies that produce inkjet inks and special inks are also rapidly increasing. More than 50 manufacturers currently produce flexo inks. According to the report, Sun Chemical Company is the largest supplier of flexo inks, accounting for more than 30% of the ink market share. Flint Ink Company accounts for approximately 20% of the market share. Other suppliers include Inx International, Color Converting, SICPA, and Central lnk.

Group/Company Sales (Millions of United States dollars)
Sun Chmemical 950
Flint Ink 900
INX International 300
Color Converfing 100
SICPA 90
Central lnk 70
Wikoff 70
Superior Printing Ink 65
Thrall 65
Toyo 65
Sensitent 60
Van Son Holland 55
Sericol 50
Siegwer 50
Color Resolution 45
Braden Sutphin 43
Azo Nobel Inks 35
Dupont 35
Handschy 35
Holt Sublimation 30
Matthews International 30
Ink systems 28
Fluid Ink Technology 25
Gans Ink & Supply 25
Marsh Co. 25
Polytex Environmental Inks 25
American Ink Jet 20
Domino Inkjet 20
Graphic Sciences 20
Total 3331