Development trend of printing ink at home and abroad

I. The situation of the world ink market

At present, the global ink industry continues to grow. International companies have used international methods such as joint ventures, cooperation, and acquisitions to expand internationally. Many international companies have fallen in the domestic market, but have been developing in China and Asia Pacific. In 2003, global ink sales exceeded US$1 billion in the following companies: Dainippon Ink/Sun Chemicals US$4.4 billion, Flint Ink US$1.4 billion, Japan Toyo Ink US$1 billion, and annual sales exceeding US$300 million. : BASF US$762 million, Japan Sakata Inx US$7.42 billion, Switzerland Sikhba 725 million US dollars, Japan Tokyo printing ink 454 million US dollars, Germany Huber Group 380 million US dollars, Japan Seakville 380 million US dollars, Inctec Inc. Japan 360 million US dollars and so on.

In order to occupy a larger market share, International Large Ink Company has developed many new ink types in recent years: such as sheetfed process inks, thermosetting web offset printing inks, industrial inkjet products (continuous inkjet CIJ, on-demand dripping DOD), conductive ink (with factory in Beijing), flexo ink for paper towel, flexo printing ink for newspapers (photosensitive resin printing plate), gravure printing gravure printing ink, anhydrous soybean oil offset printing (environmental protection) ink, etc. . Ink development has the following driving forces:

1. Technological advances, the production of new materials, and new processes have promoted the development of inks, such as jet inks that have developed rapidly in recent years;

2. The promotion of the market, people's new needs, or fierce market competition has driven the advancement of ink, and domestic companies have more often shown that they are competing for the same type of product at the same level;

3. With the promotion of environmental protection laws, there are no domestic laws and regulations on inks, but there are regulations on heavy metal content, residual solvent content of packaging materials, and other VOC limit standards in food packaging and other related areas. It can be predicted that the corresponding regulations will soon be Formulated.

Second, the domestic ink production and market conditions

China's total ink production accounts for 5 to 6% of the world's ink, ranking fourth, after the United States, Japan, and Germany, and increasing at a rate of more than 10% per year. According to statistics, the amount of printing ink used in China was 220,000 tons in 2001, 241,100 tons in 2002, and 274,600 tons in 2003: the output was 205,000 tons in 2001 and 22.0 million in 2002. t. In 2003, it was 244,600 tons. In China, the share of offset inks is the largest, accounting for 40-45% of the market, with an annual growth rate of nearly 6%. Flexographic inks are growing at a rate of 5% per year. Gravure inks maintain steady growth, and screen-printing inks have a growing trend. The demand for alcohol-soluble inks and water-based inks will increase rapidly.

The distribution of the printing industry and ink manufacturers in China is an interesting feature. All manufacturers are consciously or unconsciously taking the road to specialization. The top 10 ink manufacturers are basically offset ink production plants, or the production of gravure inks. , And with the ink quantity of individual varieties as the main product, the ink factory developed in recent years has performed more prominently, such as Zhongshan Yeshi Ink Co., Ltd. (gravure ink), Zhejiang Yongshang Chemical Co., Ltd. (gravure ink), etc. Basically, they all take the road of specialization and take the road to market promotion. In recent years, domestic packaging and printing bases have also developed rapidly in various regions, such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Guangdong's Pearl River Delta and Chaozhou. In recent years, ink has been developing rapidly under the drive of the packaging and printing industry, and it has a distinct feature that is the introduction of complete sets of printing equipment and inks, followed by localization of ink, followed by localization of printing equipment. In recent years, ink printers in Guangdong Province have also developed rapidly. Guangdong Zhaoqing Tianlong Ink Chemical Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Shenri Ink Co., Ltd., Guangdong Meining Ink Group Co., Ltd., Zhongshan Yeshi Ink Co., Ltd., Shantou Five Star Ink Factory, Jiangmen Toyo Ink Co., Ltd., Zhuhai Letong Ink Coating Co., Ltd., etc. In particular, there are dozens of ink manufacturers in the Chaozhou area that developed in the late 1990s, and several of them have produced more than 2,000 tons. The characteristics of domestic ink companies:

1. Multinational corporations and their joint ventures (about 10 or less) occupy the domestic high-end market, such as Dongyang, Anti-China, DIC, Gaoshi, etc. The main products include offset inks - plastic composite inks, printing inks, etc.; the quality of their products is good. , high print speed, suitable for high-end printing press printing and printed matter. And high speed printing of newspapers. Its annual total ink output is about 10-12 million tons.

2. A large number of private enterprises (about 1,000 or more) have occupied the low-end market. The main products are cartons inks (mainly low-grade water-based products), gravure plastic inks, and screen printing inks. Its product quality has a certain guarantee, more used in domestic low-end printing press printing general public demand for goods packaging and printing. For use in cartons, food bags, shopping bags, etc. The total annual ink output is difficult to count, and it is estimated that there are 8-10 million tons. Well-made private ink companies do not strive for perfection and specialize in their own characteristics.

3. State-owned enterprises can produce various kinds of inks, mainly traditional products, and have certain competitiveness in mid-range products. At present, with the restructuring of enterprises, the above-mentioned two types of enterprises have become increasingly declining. The total annual output is about 40,000 to 50,000 tons.

Third, the development trend of domestic ink

In recent years, with the popularization of technology and market competition, many traditional state-owned enterprises in China have lost their leading edge in ink technology; the cost advantages of other privately-owned enterprises have also emerged, and their market share has continued to expand. However, some state-owned traditional enterprises failed to keep pace with the industry's technological transformation. Technology has failed to keep pace with changes in the market. As a result, the situation has also changed. That is to say, other people follow us and become the people we follow. Moreover, due to the popularization of product technology and homogenization of product quality, product competition gradually becomes a competition between product prices and service quality. The success of private enterprises is to take the market-driven road. The development of ink is:

1. The development of market applicable ink products, in particular the introduction of competitive and cheap products, occupied the low-end market, such as paper offset inks, plastic surface printing inks and inks and other printing ink.

2 development of environmentally friendly ink. Such as alcohol-soluble ink printing gravure, anhydrous soybean oil offset printing (environmental) ink, water-based ink (water-based plastic ink is the development of environmental protection products to support the development of Guangdong Province) and UV / EB flexo printing ink and other new inks:

3. To develop high value-added ink products, such as industrial inkjet products (continuous inkjet cIJ, drop-on-demand DOD), conductive ink, security security ink and so on.

The variety of inks and the use of them are also different, and the use of ink for printing is also a technology, so the technical service of inks is also particularly important. Not only is the service provider required to be familiar with ink, but it is also required to pass through the printing technology. If there is any advantage of an ink, where it is used, where the customer is, how to use it to reflect the advantages of the product, etc.

We should find out the satisfaction of our customers (including distributors, manufacturers, individual consumers, etc.) to our product quality and services, and understand the customers’ opinions on the products:

Customer service (such as supply channels, delivery, product usage guidance, introduction of similar products, etc.) is satisfactory;
Can we provide new products that meet customer requirements?
Product quality (such as product quality indicators, advanced level, stability, and deficiencies, etc.):
Whether the speed of reflecting the information reflected by the customer is satisfactory and whether the after-sales service is satisfactory;
Whether the process equipment of the customer's application product is reasonable, whether there is any reference or improvement.

Gradually form a market (customer) as the center, and provide appropriate ink products for the needs of customers, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction with ink products and services, thereby expanding the market share of ink.

IV. Conclusion

In the past decade or so, the quality and quantity of China's ink products have undergone tremendous changes, but China is still a developing country. The per capita consumption of printed materials is still very low, only 5% of the per capita consumption of developed countries. The amount of use is also very low. In the next 5 to 10 years, China's national economy will maintain a rapid development, and the great development of ink is also obvious. In the coming years, the development of the ink industry in China, in addition to increasing products, should focus on adjusting product structure, increasing production concentration, increasing research and development efforts, increasing scientific and technological content, improving quality, and improving the stability of products to make them adaptable. In today's multi-color, high-speed, quick-drying, pollution-free and low-cost consumption of modern printing needs.