Spurred by the demand for UV and eco-friendly inks, the global digital inks market is forecast to reach A$1.04 billion by the year 2015, according to Global Industry Analysts Inc.
In addition, innovative ink technologies and products, as well as new application areas, will boost future prospects of the digital inks market.
Mushrooming popularity of outdoor signage such as wraps and banners are propelling growth of eco-solvent, and UV-cured digital inks. Water-based inks are expected to hit southwards, pushed aside by the eclipsing popularity of cost efficient solvent-based inks.
Though the desktop market constitutes the primary market driver for digital inks, industrial applications are likely to score over traditional markets in future. The traditional ink market is likely to shift towards digital, with the introduction of efficient printer heads featuring 500 nozzles that offer high quality at tremendous speed.
Incessant technology innovations are additionally opening up newer growth avenues i.e. relatively new markets such as UV and inkjet inks, which were virtually non-existent a decade ago. The advent of various newer inkjet inks as well as technologies such as LED curing technology, thermoforming inks, electron beam curing technology, coloured LED curable inks and others have further added to the popularity of the UV inkjet inks. Heightened environmental awareness has spurred the demand for UV inks especially in offset and flexo printing. Digital printing, flexo and lithographic printing are expected to witness maximum growth.
The global printing inks market was significantly affected by the worldwide economic recession. A large percentage of the ink manufacturers witnessed a considerable drop in sales in the year 2009. With particular reference to the worldwide digital ink market, despite the slowdown in the macro economy, manufacturers of digital technologies continue to enjoy fruitful returns, mainly due to the emergence of new application areas. However, the activity of machine placements has taken a backseat in the market, owing to the recession. The graphics market received a severe blow from the recession, while investments in newer inkjet application areas remained relatively immune to the recession.
The inkjet market recorded healthy growth figures in the first quarter of 2008, however, the onset of recession and the inability of the consumers to secure finances, dented the inkjet equipment demand in the second half of 2008. Growing demand for eco-friendly, superior quality and highly productive inks is attributed as the major factor for the shift in demand from solvent-based inks to UV inks. In a similar situation, the manufacturers of UV and EB inks continued to garner considerable business in some of the markets, owing to the eco-friendly benefits offered by the technology and its wide usage in the packaging printing industry.
The worldwide digital inks market is clearly dominated by the US, as stated by the new market research report on Digital Inks. Growth in the market is spurred by enhancements in the digital technology such as the speed and quality of printing that are opening newer application areas for digital inks. However, the mature US ink industry is threatened by escalating raw material and energy costs, stiffening competition from developing nations such as India and China, and offshore production of vital substrates.
Europe and Asia-Pacific make up the other important markets in the digital inks sphere. Asia-pacific, led by burgeoning growth in China, Vietnam, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian markets, is set to race ahead at the overall fastest CAGR through 2015. Digitalization, high-speed printing and environment friendly inks are the defining trends in the Asian printing ink industry.
The Electrostatic Inks (Laser/Copier) segment commands the leadership position in the overall digital inks market worldwide. The segment is also projected to register the fastest growth rate for the analysis period 2007-2015. The emergence of newer and higher-performance laser printers at competitive prices is one of the primary growth drivers for the electrostatic inks market.
Global Industry Analysts Inc
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