Global Flexible Packaging Growth: Ink Industry Faces Both Opportunity and Environmental Pressure

Packaging printers differ from their commercial printing counterparts in one key respect: their customer base is built largely around brand suppliers rather than companies from every sector. In the 21st century, demand for globalized solutions, SKU proliferation, cost reduction and personalization is clear, and these real needs from brand owners and consumers are driving packaging companies to innovate. The old idea that “a box is just a box” has not disappeared, yet packaging formats and production methods are changing in subtle ways. More companies are recognizing how important the packaging industry has become.

According to the Global Flexible Packaging Market Outlook, the worldwide flexible packaging market will continue expanding at an annual rate of 3.5% over the next five years, with output value forecast to hit USD 231 billion by 2018. That figure covers only one part of the packaging market, underscoring the broad prospects of the packaging printing segment. Printing, already an integral part of packaging, is advancing alongside it—and that, in turn, is fueling growth in the ink industry.

There is little doubt that the packaging printing market has been growing steadily in recent years, and its outlook for the coming years remains brighter than that of the publication printing market. As a result, almost all major ink manufacturers have concentrated their efforts on packaging printing. Their view is that even if global economic growth slows, the packaging printing market is unlikely to see major swings. The packaging printing market therefore represents a prime opportunity for the ink industry, though rising health awareness also brings significant challenges for ink development.

Recently, Lanzhou City announced that by the end of 2014, all packaging printing enterprises in the city would be required to use inks carrying environmental protection marks and low-toxicity, low-volatility water-soluble solvents. Other non-environmentally friendly inks and solvents with excessive toxic or hazardous substances would be banned. This is not an isolated case but part of a broader trend. To achieve sustained growth in this market, ink companies must strengthen the environmental performance of their products—chiefly by reducing ink migration, adapting to the trend toward small-format packaging, making packaging materials recyclable and lowering environmental impact. These challenges can also open new market opportunities: if ink manufacturers can supply customers with new ink products aligned with future trends, they can secure greater growth space.

This article is reposted from China Packaging Network (news.pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-373115.html. Copyright belongs to the original author; provided for industry exchange and learning only.