Due to the thriving packaging industry, growth will be stimulated in the printer ink market.
Major players in the ink market are developing “bio-based printing inks” to avoid the usage of toxic materials in line with regulatory framework, said a press release. According to Transparency Market Research the five main companies – Sun Chemical, INX International Ink Co., Flint Group, Quad Graphics Inc.,and Siegwerk Druckfarben AG & Co. KgaA – hold a “collective share” of 65.7 percent of the market.
The lead author of the report said that “companies are likely to expand their reach to developing countries of [the] Asia Pacific that are showing promise of growth in every sector, which will have a direct impact on the demand for printing inks”. The report said that the North American printing inks market “is projected to be worth” $8.7 billion (€8 billion) by the end of 2024, and that it is expected to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 5.7 percent between 2016 and 2024.
Due to publication and commercial printing, oil-based printing inks will see a “remarkable rate of consumption” and will expand at a “CAGR of 5.15 percent” during 2016 to 2024, with the maximum demand coming from the US, which will see its printing inks market grow at a CAGR of 5.55 percent. The packaging industry continues to grow and has influenced the demand for printing inks, as well as a high demand for UV-cured printing inks used in “inkjet, gravure and flexography”.
These inks are “gaining popularity as they are far more advantageous than the traditional printing inks”, and there will be a higher demand for UV-cured inks due to strict environmental regulations on the use of VOC (volatile organic compound) inks. Other factors causing the demand for printing inks are: younger population spending money on packaged foods; “rising GDPs of several nations”; and investment growth in the healthcare sector. The driven packaging industry will keep the North American inks market “upbeat for the next five years”.
Despite this, the North American market will face some tough challenges from strict regulations banning the use of inorganic solvents and toxic metals like lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium, which could “restrain the growth in the overall market”, and with digitalisation and e-commerce growing, there is an expectation that this will “reduce the demand for printing inks in the publication sector”, as will the paperless office.