South Africa Printing Inks Market Analysis 2021-2031

Control Teams Manage Customer Orders, Inventories amid COVID-19 Situation

Top ink companies are pledging to monitor the ongoing COVID-19 situation carefully. Stakeholders are working with intermediate suppliers and logistics providers to maintain sufficient inventories for raw materials and avoid supply shocks. Companies in the South Africa printing inks market are adopting proactive strategies to manage customer orders, in-transit shipments, and inventory levels to meet demands of consumers.

Companies in the South Africa printing inks market are establishing control teams to manage different business areas to avoid any supply disruptions. They are focusing on individual materials and suppliers to take necessary precautions. Companies are releasing Q&A that facilitate information dissemination and official statements to keep stakeholders updated about current trade scenarios and its expected improvements in the second and third quarter of 2021.

Pressroom Workers Shift toward Troubleshooting Guides to Troubleshoot Common Printing Defects

The South Africa printing inks market is estimated to reach US$ 251 Mn by 2031. Companies are increasing efforts to resolve common technical defects that may arise during a press run. In order to achieve this, companies are offering troubleshooting guides to clients that help them overcome challenges that they come across in flexographic, paper packaging, and sheetfed printing applications.

Companies in the South Africa printing inks market are developing mobile-friendly websites that use both photos and defect terms such as feathering, dot gain, pinholes, comets, etc. to address common pressroom challenges in coldest and metal package printing processes.

Improving Direct Connection with Customers Caters to Market Expansion

Flint Group Flexographic has announced to dedicate its sales organization in South Africa to directly serve customers in the region. Productive business initiatives by companies are contributing to the expansion of the South Africa printing inks market, which is slated to register a favorable CAGR of ~7% during the assessment period.

Manufacturers are setting their collaboration wheels in motion to gain a competitive edge in the South Africa printing inks market. Apart from this, companies are rolling up their sleeves to get directly involved with clients in South Africa with the help of a one-stop-shop approach. They are improving their plate making expertise, technical service, and customer support to expand their revenue horizons. Companies are making cohesive offerings for pre-press and packaging applications to create business streams.

Plug & Play Technologies Align with OEM Counterparts to Eliminate Profiling

Companies in the South Africa printing inks market are offering value driven solutions to match original equipment manufacturers (OEM) inks and eliminate the need for profile change or system flush. STS Inks— a toner cartridge supplier in Boca Raton, Florida, is gaining prominence in South Africa for offering its Plug & Print technology that allows users to simply swap OEM cartridges with STS inks without any notable difference in color or print quality.

Stakeholders in the South Africa printing inks market are increasing their R&D muscle for user-friendly technologies that are time and cost efficient. These technologies are aligned with their OEM counterparts and help to omit the need for profiling and flushing.

Metallic Ink Shades Gaining Prominence for Paper & Board Printing

Food grade, postal, industrial, and custom formulated inks are creating value grab opportunities for manufacturers in the South Africa printing inks market. Apart from gaining strong business hold in Australia, Canada, and India, Hubergroup is stretching its supply chains in South Africa for tailor-made solutions in commercial, packaging, and newspaper printing. High quality printing inks are being used as coatings and additives that help clients become the frontrunner in their industry.

Metallic inks in silver, gold, and copper shades are in high demand for the South Africa printing inks market. Inks with precious metallic shine are aluminum and brass-based, and can be used on paper and board.

Environment-friendly Inks a Fast Growing Phenomena in Global Market

Uniform surface tension, density, viscosity, and particle size are being preferred by end users. Manufacturers are achieving this by gaining a strong research base about OEM standards and new chemistries. Companies in the South Africa printing inks market are collaborating with quality specialists to develop inks that equal and exceed OEM specifications. They are establishing quality control labs to increase the availability for environment-friendly inks. Business owners, printing specialists, and consumers are becoming conscious about environment-friendly inks that are translating into their printing habits. Such inks are an attempt to lower the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the environment.

Analysts’ Viewpoint

New government regulations and varying restrictions, owing to the COVID-19 outbreak in different countries are influencing the growth of the South Africa printing inks market. Metallic offset inks with advanced vehicle technology and premium pigments are offering perfect processing and quality characteristics. However, companies are becoming cognizant about challenges of digital printing in heavy clay ceramics. Hence, manufacturers should increase awareness about ceramic printers, which are based on a similar functional principal of Drop-on-Demand (DoD), which facilitates contactless printing on surfaces. A storm of eco-revolution in printer inks is bolstering the credibility of manufacturers. R&D and quality control labs have become important to gain a competitive edge.

South Africa Printing Inks Market: Overview

• Printing inks provide protection, deliver message, and also offer a decorative image to the substrate. Printing inks comprise solutions of dyes and insoluble colorants. These inks are distinguished by processes such as rotogravure, lithography, and flexography.
• Key applications of printing inks include screen printing, flexographic printing, gravure printing, offset printing, digital printing, and specialty printing. Printing inks are versatile and can be used on virtually any surface, regardless of its texture, size, or shape. These inks can be used in the coloring of paper, plastics, metal, glass, and textiles. Printing inks, unlike paints and varnish coatings, are applied to the surface in the form of a very thin layer, which, depending on the printing process may have a thickness of 2 μm to 30 μm.
• Printing inks are used in food packaging to provide information to the final consumer. They play an important role in the presentation and advertising of foodstuff. Some of this information, such as weight, vendor details, and information about composition, presence of allergens and nutritional details, is legally mandated in South Africa.

Key Growth Drivers of South Africa Printing Inks Market

• Rise in demand for printing inks in publication & commercial printing industries in South Africa is primarily driving the printing inks market in the country. Wide usage of printing inks in the newspaper industry is boosting the printing inks market in South Africa. Printing inks aim to reproduce and transfer an image from a printing surface. Printing inks can be described as colored pastes and liquids that deliver message. They also help in enhancing the esthetics of substrates. Printing inks are made of solutions of dyes and insoluble colors. The printing industry in South Africa plays a valuable role in the economy and provides significant employment opportunities. Around 2,000 commercial printing companies operate in the country. Most of these are small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs). Approximately 1,000 companies provide pre-press services, such as design and layout, or post-press services, including finishing and binding. Thus, rapid expansion in the printing industry is expected to boost the printing inks market in South Africa during the forecast period.
• The printing inks market in South Africa is also driven by rapid expansion of the digital printing industry. Digital printing is rapidly expanding into label production and electrophotography. The packaging industry is expected to experience significant revolution over the next decade, owing to the increase in applications of digital printing. Digital printing has been popular among various brand owners due to the quick turnaround capability that it offers. Recent developments in digital printing, such as digital carton cutting, creasing, and other completion technologies, have boosted the potential for higher number of applications in flexible packaging, corrugated packaging, and folding cartons. Thus, rapid expansion of the digital printing industry is expected to boost the consumption of printing inks, thereby propelling the printing inks market in South Africa.

Key Challenges of South Africa Printing Inks Market

• Printing inks are employed in various end-use industries. Enactment of stringent regulations over the usage of volatile organic compounds is likely to hamper the printing inks market in South Africa. Several local authorities in South Africa have set guidelines restricting the emission of volatile organic compounds during the usage of inks in industries, especially solvent-based printing inks. Printing inks consist of inorganic solvents and toxic metals such as cadmium, hexavalent chromium, lead, and mercury. These result in various health hazards when they come into direct contact with edibles. The number of safety regulations has increased in order to avoid adverse health consequences resulting from inhalation of toxic substances. This is likely to hamper the printing inks market in South Africa in the near future.
• High cost of raw materials is projected to hamper the printing inks market in South Africa in the near future. Raw materials such as various monomers, solvents, and energy curing monomers, additives, photo initiators, colorants, and other chemicals are employed in the preparation of printing inks. Prices of these raw materials are considerably high. This increases the overall production cost of printing inks. In turn, this hampers the market.

Lucrative Opportunities for Players in South Africa Printing Inks Market

• Key players such as New Africa Inks (Pty) Limited, GL Specialized Inks (Pty) Ltd., Constantia Printing Inks, Flint Group South Africa Ltd, Millian Inks, Hi-Tech Inks (Pty) Ltd., Select Inks, and NUtec Digital Ink (Pty) Ltd. can focus on expanding their global footprint through strategic capital allocations and increase in production capacity
• Companies need to focus on product improvements in order to create new interest in existing products. This can help draw customers and improve the perception of the quality of products.

Leading Players in South Africa Printing Inks Market

• Players operating in the printing inks market in South Africa are adopting various organic and inorganic growth strategies such as mergers & acquisition, new product launches, strategic collaborations, expansions, and joint ventures to expand their product portfolio and business operations

South Africa Printing Inks Market – Segmentation

TMR’s research study segments the printing inks market in South Africa in terms of application, end-use type, and region. This report presents extensive market dynamics and growth trends associated with different segments and explains how they are influencing the growth of the printing inks market in South Africa.