China Printing Supply Chain Trade Up 15.9% in Jan-Aug 2021, Equipment and Consumables Lead Growth

China’s combined imports and exports of printed products, printing equipment and printing consumables totaled US$15.275 billion in January-August 2021, up 15.9% from a year earlier (see Table 1). Printed products accounted for US$10.853 billion, up 6.9% year on year; printing equipment reached US$3.513 billion, up 50.3%; and printing consumables stood at US$909 million, up 31.6%. The three categories together recorded a trade surplus of US$7.883 billion, an increase of 7.4% year on year.

Table 1: Import and export data for China’s printed products, printing equipment and printing consumables, January-August 2021

Printed Products: Import and Export Overview

China imported US$1.687 billion worth of printed products in January-August 2021, up 6.6% year on year (see Table 2). Publication printed products made up US$358 million, down 33.6%; packaging printed products reached US$110 million, up 25.9%; commercial printed products totaled US$1.219 billion, up 27.3%.

Key imported printed-product subcategories were: dictionaries and books at US$296 million, up 13.2%; periodicals and magazines at US$50.886 million, down 81.2%; children’s picture books at US$4.717 million, up 7.8%; corrugated boxes and cases at US$27.826 million, up 2.2%; non-corrugated folding cartons at US$41.469 million, up 16.5%; paper bags at US$31.898 million, up 58.1%; office printed products at US$126 million, up 15.3%; ticket and certificate printed products at US$686 million, up 33.8%; and other commercial printed products at US$407 million, up 21.4%.

Table 2: China’s printed product imports, January-August 2021

On the export side, China shipped US$9.166 billion of printed products in the same period, up 7.0% year on year (see Table 3). Publication printed products exports were US$1.240 billion, up 22.1%; packaging printed products exports were US$4.437 billion, up 39.3%; and commercial printed products exports were US$3.490 billion, down 20.1%.

Table 3: China’s printed product exports, January-August 2021

Among major export subcategories: dictionaries and books reached US$729 million, up 25.4%; periodicals and magazines reached US$5.018 million, up 36.9%; children’s picture books reached US$494 million, up 17.4%; corrugated boxes and cases reached US$1.220 billion, up 34.2%; non-corrugated folding cartons reached US$1.393 billion, up 44.7%; paper bags reached US$1.023 billion, up 37.3%; office printed products reached US$2.000 billion, down 5.5%; ticket and certificate printed products reached US$78.853 million, up 180.9%; and other commercial printed products reached US$1.411 billion, down 36.5%.

The printed products trade surplus for the period was US$7.479 billion, up 7.1% year on year.

Printing Equipment: Import and Export Overview

China imported US$1.678 billion of printing equipment in January-August 2021, up 57.5% year on year (see Table 4). Prepress equipment imports were US$40 million, up 24.5%; printing machinery imports were US$1.470 billion, up 59.4%; and postpress equipment imports were US$168 million, up 51.7%.

Table 4: China’s printing equipment imports, January-August 2021

Main imported equipment subcategories: CTP machines at US$12.010 million, up 56.9%; offset presses at US$626 million, up 64.7%; gravure presses at US$12.352 million, up 40.5%; flexographic presses at US$16.434 million, down 38.4%; screen printing machines at US$39.748 million, down 1.6%; letterpress machines at US$3.309 million, up 242.5%; digital presses at US$165 million, up 22.2%; printing auxiliary machines and parts at US$600 million, up 85.1%; book and periodical binding equipment at US$59.139 million, up 48.0%; and packaging postpress equipment at US$37.557 million, up 65.9%.

In the same period, China exported US$1.836 billion of printing equipment, up 44.3% year on year (see Table 5). Prepress equipment exports were US$104 million, up 21.5%; printing machinery exports were US$1.020 billion, up 41.6%; and postpress equipment exports were US$711 million, up 52.7%.

Table 5: China’s printing equipment exports, January-August 2021

Leading exported equipment subcategories: CTP machines at US$28.360 million, up 23.0%; offset presses at US$73.777 million, up 18.9%; gravure presses at US$39.384 million, up 77.1%; flexographic presses at US$44.873 million, up 20.5%; screen printing machines at US$63.576 million, up 63.0%; letterpress machines at US$31.577 million, up 58.6%; digital presses at US$529 million, up 37.1%; printing auxiliary machines and parts at US$183 million, up 73.8%; book and periodical binding equipment at US$20.853 million, up 28.1%; and packaging postpress equipment at US$315 million, up 40.6%.

The printing equipment trade surplus was US$158 million, down 23.8% year on year.

Printing Consumables: Import and Export Overview

China’s printing consumables imports reached US$331 million in January-August 2021, up 21.5% year on year (see Table 6). Black printing ink imports were 1,262.67 tonnes, valued at US$42.690 million, down 0.6%; other printing inks were 5,883.12 tonnes, valued at US$157 million, up 12.1%; water-based inkjet ink was 4,880.88 tonnes, valued at US$94.403 million, up 45.6%; PS offset plates were 17,400 square metres, valued at US$374,000, up 6.4%; CTP offset plates were 2.7162 million square metres, valued at US$11.445 million, up 224.9%; and flexographic plates were 473,300 square metres, valued at US$25.599 million, up 21.2% on the previous year.

Table 6: China’s printing consumables imports, January-August 2021

During the same period, printing consumables exports totaled US$578 million, up 38.2% year on year (see Table 7). Black printing ink exports were 1,693.01 tonnes, valued at US$8.178 million, up 51.8%; other printing inks were 14,100 tonnes, valued at US$71.068 million, up 38.8%; water-based inkjet ink was 15,900 tonnes, valued at US$114 million, up 60.2%; PS offset plates were 25.96 million square metres, valued at US$67.755 million, up 20.1%; CTP offset plates were 103 million square metres, valued at US$300 million, up 36.3%; and flexographic plates were 387,700 square metres, valued at US$17.135 million, up 36.0%.

Table 7: China’s printing consumables exports, January-August 2021

The printing consumables trade surplus reached US$246 million, up 69.5% year on year.

The total import and export value of goods related to China’s printing industry continued to rise in January-August 2021. Compared with the same period a year earlier, the trade scale of printed products, printing equipment and printing consumables all expanded. Printing equipment posted the strongest gain at 50.3%, printing consumables followed with 31.6%, while printed products grew at a more moderate 6.9%.

The top five categories with the fastest import and export growth in the period were as follows:

On the import side: other publication printed products rose 282.2%; letterpress machines rose 242.5%; CTP offset plates rose 224.9%; other paper packaging containers rose 97.1%; and printing auxiliary machines and parts rose 85.1%.

On the export side: ticket and certificate printed products rose 180.9%; gravure presses rose 77.1%; printing auxiliary machines and parts rose 73.8%; screen printing machines rose 63.0%; and water-based inkjet ink rose 60.2%.

Meanwhile, the main categories that contracted were:

Imports: periodicals and magazines printed products fell 81.2%; flexographic presses fell 38.4%.

Exports: other commercial printed products fell 36.5%; office printed products fell 5.5%.

In the same period of 2020, China’s printing industry was still in the post-pandemic work-and-production resumption phase, and the base for related goods trade was low, creating a large gap with this year’s figures (see Table 8). So how do the results compare with January-August 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak?

Printed product imports increased 1.4%, while exports increased 11.5%;

Printing equipment imports increased 25.9%, while exports increased 16.6%;

Printing consumables imports increased 15.6%, while exports increased 12.6%.

These comparisons show that, by August 2021, the import and export trade scale of goods related to China’s printing industry had fully returned to pre-pandemic levels, with most categories posting some growth.

Table 8: Comparison of China’s printed products, printing equipment and printing consumables imports and exports, January-August 2021 vs. 2019

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on domestic and global economies, together with shifts in the international political and economic environment, has deeply affected China’s printing-related imports and exports. Compared with pre-pandemic times, the product mix and regional distribution of printed products, printing equipment and printing consumables trade have already changed.

Source: China Packaging Network (pack.cn); original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-378440.html