Southeast Asia, particularly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, has been leading the way in the region's economic growth. The Asia-Pacific printing industry, especially packaging printing, continues to maintain strong momentum. Thanks to this, the ink market in the Asia-Pacific region continues to boom, with annual sales expected to exceed US$8 billion.
Masamichi Soda, president of D&E Enterprise Packaging and Graphics Business Group and general manager of Printing Materials Products Division, said that from the second half of fiscal year 2023 to the first half of fiscal year 2024, the Asia-Pacific ink market will be affected by the epidemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the economic crisis in emerging markets. It was at a standstill. "However, since the end of 2023, the market has gradually recovered, and Dickson's market performance in China, India, Indonesia and Thailand has been particularly impressive, achieving significant growth."
Toru Kaneko, General Manager of the International Business Department of Sakata Ink Corporate Planning Department, pointed out: "In Japan, the digitalization wave has led to a reduction in demand for commercial printing inks. In addition, inflation has led to a slowdown in consumption, and packaging ink sales and profits are also facing challenges. In China, The downturn in the real estate market further exacerbated the market weakness. In contrast, strong economic performance in countries such as India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand drove significant results for our business in these countries. The Thailand and Bangladesh markets are also showing strong growth momentum," said Ashish Pradhan, president of Siegwerk Asia. Siegwerk has achieved impressive growth this year, with growth in the region approaching 15% year-to-date. Pradhan further pointed out: "This year, Southeast Asia has performed particularly well, with Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand growing by more than 20%. In addition, India has also performed well, with a growth of more than 12%, and the Chinese market has grown by more than 20%. 7%.”
Hideyuki Hyugatani, general manager of T&K Toka's overseas ink sales department, said that T&K Toka has performed well in the printing and ink markets in the Asia-Pacific region over the past year. "The packaging market, especially food packaging, is booming. However, publishing and commercial printing are expected to shrink due to the impact of digital transformation." Hideyuki Hyugatani also mentioned that HT&K Toka has achieved success in the markets of Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam Strong growth.
Doug Aldred, chief commercial officer of Flint Group, pointed out that China’s packaging and printing ink market has maintained steady growth over the past year, while the Southeast Asian narrow-web printing market will be the same in the first half of 2024 as in the same period in 2023. The ratio has also achieved steady growth. "In addition to the growth of the Chinese market itself, Chinese printing companies are also increasing their investment in Southeast Asia, which is further driving business growth in the region, especially in Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines."
China
As the largest economy in the region, China's printing and ink industry has maintained a vigorous development trend, attracting the attention of many domestic and foreign companies. Ashish Pradhan, President of Siegwerk Asia, said that Siegwerk achieved strong growth in 2024, with both sales volume and net income increasing. "We continue to invest in building a strong team and developing unique and differentiated products for the highly competitive Chinese market." Pradhan said.
Hideyuki Hinata Tani, general manager of T&K Toka's overseas ink sales department, said: "In accordance with our strategic plan, we will sell the offset ink business in China in the first half of 2024. Nonetheless, we will continue to focus on the packaging ink and metal can ink business. . At present, due to the overall downturn in China's real estate market, market demand has not yet fully recovered, but it has improved compared with last year."
Masadao Soda, President of D&E Enterprise Packaging and Graphics Business Group and General Manager of Printing Materials Products Division, pointed out in the report: “D&E has carried out large-scale business integration in the Chinese market. By streamlining the ink business, we have consolidated several previously dispersed businesses. Ten factories have been merged into three. In the future, we will concentrate our resources and use these three factories as the core to efficiently manage the growth and business development of the entire Chinese market.”
Tian Zhengdao also added: "In southern China, we have built a brand new Dongguan ink factory, which is equipped with advanced production equipment and greatly improved production efficiency. In eastern China, we are building a large-scale factory in Nantong to replace Existing factories. In northern China, we focus on the Shenyang factory and cover the entire northern market.”
India
India's ink industry shows huge potential for development. "India's commercial printing, publishing and packaging markets have continued to recover over the past year and have maintained steady growth," said Masamichi Soda, president of D&E Enterprise Packaging and Graphics Business Group and general manager of the Printed Materials Products Division.
In order to meet the growing demand of the market, D&E has built a new modern factory in Saihar, Bharuch District, Gujarat, India. The factory, which mainly produces environmentally friendly toluene-free liquid inks, covers an area of 92,500 square meters and has a designed production capacity of more than 10,000 tons. Masadao Soda said: "DI Essen India plans to further expand the scale of the factory to meet the needs of domestic and foreign markets, and focus on the development of value-added and specialty products. At the same time, we will upgrade the Noida factory to a technology center and devote ourselves to research and development of better products. Many new environmentally friendly products.”
Ashish Pradhan, President of Siegwerk Asia, said: "The Indian market has continued its strong growth momentum in the past, and all our business units have achieved good results."
Hideyuki Hyugatani, general manager of T&K Toka's overseas ink sales department, pointed out: "Although sales of newspaper inks are slightly weak, sales of packaging inks are very strong. India's exports to Africa and Europe are also showing a growth trend. Despite facing rising labor costs Due to the dual pressure of falling sales prices, the demand for environmentally friendly toluene-free and MEK-free inks remains strong. We will expand our market share by providing high-quality, environmentally friendly products.”
Environmental regulations continue to be introduced
While Europe and the Americas are active in strengthening environmental regulations, the Asia-Pacific region is also intensively promoting related initiatives.
Ashish Pradhan, president of Siegwerk Asia, said environmental regulations are being tightened. “Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for plastic waste is being actively promoted across the region, and countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia have also introduced regulations to limit the use of toluene, especially in food packaging. India has already A total ban on the addition of toluene in food packaging.”
General Manager of T&K Toka Overseas Ink Sales Department Hideyuki Hinata Tani said: “With the increase in environmental awareness, people are increasingly complying with laws and regulations. At the same time, companies are also voluntarily complying with some stricter regulations, such as perfluorinated and polyfluorocarbons. Fluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS) and French mineral oil regulations.”
Toru Kaneko, General Manager of the International Business Department of Sakata Ink Corporate Planning Department, said: "In addition to the continuous strengthening of environmental supervision by governments and the growing demand for environmentally friendly products from brand owners, the development of environmentally friendly products is also one of our core strategies. Since 2016, We took the lead in launching the 'Vegetable Ink Series' partially using plant-derived materials in Japan, and are actively promoting this series of products in other Asian countries."
Masadao Soda pointed out: "Although global brands and processing companies have begun to pay attention to environmental regulations, many local companies in the Asia-Pacific region still regard cost reduction as their primary goal and are less willing to invest in higher-cost products that meet environmental standards. We predict that, This situation will only improve after countries strengthen and strictly implement relevant laws and regulations.”
Doug Aldred, chief commercial officer of Flint Group, said: "The Chinese government continues to increase supervision of environmental protection. A series of new regulations have been introduced one after another, including the "VOC in Printing Ink" for VOC and food safety. Limits" and GB4804.14 standards. The environmental protection requirements of well-known brands such as Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever have greatly promoted people's attention to environmental regulations. These brands require their suppliers to actively adopt sustainable development measures. only suppliers that meet regulatory requirements can be selected or continue to cooperate.”
New factory construction
Leading companies in the ink industry have increased their investment in the Asia-Pacific region. This trend is not surprising.
Masamichi Soda, President of the Packaging and Graphics Business Group and General Manager of the Printing Materials Products Division of D&E Enterprise, said: “D&E India’s new factory in Saiha, Bharuch District, Gujarat has been put into operation, with an annual production capacity of 10,000 tons. It mainly produces non-woven fabrics. "
Ashish Pradhan, President of Siegwerk Asia, said: "Sigwerk is actively expanding its presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Our factory in Tangerang, Indonesia is being expanded, and our R&D laboratory in Thailand has also been expanded. In addition, We have built new color matching centers in Pune and Chennai, India, and invested in a solar park in Jaisalmer, India.”
Hideyuki Hinata Tani, general manager of T&K Toka's overseas ink sales department, said: "At the end of 2023, we expanded the production capacity of solvent-based inks at our factory near Hanoi, Vietnam. In order to better manage the Asian market, we established in February 2024 Sakata Ink Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd. is responsible for coordinating business in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia. Our goal is to establish a sound sustainable development management system, strengthen collaboration within the group, and maximize profits. ”
