New Routes to Profit for UK Printers

The UK printing market is predicted to decline while the packaging and labels and digital printing are forecast to grow.

According to the research from Smithers Pira, the UK printing market is predicted to decline by 0.1% per annum to £23.2 billion by 2020 due to reduction in demand for printed products.

Reportedly, the reduction in demand may be caused by the adoption of high-performance inkjet. The more effective inkjet allegedly lowers the unit cost of book manufacture and print and ensures quality and therefore reduces demand for printing extra, often wasted, copies for publishers.

Moreover, the UK print service providers has become more efficient, using better workflow and automation to minimize make-ready and lower waste. The series of improvements has also reduced the demand for paper and inks.

These factors are also leading to declining volumes for many graphics products. There are similar efficiencies in packaging, where digital enjoys very low share (except for labels).

Digital print, on the other hand, will grow to 18.4% by 2020 as new applications, particularly in packaging, recorded growth. Also, for printed packaging and labels, UK output is forecast to grow by 2.2% per annum at constant terms through to 2020 thanks to advertising.