Flexographic Printing Machine Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The flexographic printing machine market is expected to register a CAGR of 11.3% during the forecast period (2021 - 2026). As the flexo press uses flexible photopolymer printing plates to imprint images, it is used for printing across a wide range of surfaces such as plastics, paper, metallic films to cellophane.

Key Highlights

• Flexographic printing machinery make use of relief plates made up of flexible rubber or photo-polymer plates, four rollers such as ink roller, meter roller, plate cylinder, and impression cylinder. Ink is introduced to an aniloxroller that transfers the ink to a flexible, raised-relief image plate wrapped around a cylinder. This cylinder then lays the graphic onto the label paper as it passes through the press at high speed.
• The increasing demand for a printing machine that can be used for a variety of substrates and other products with high versatility and ease of operation, particularly for rather long printing runs on all extensible plastic film, is expected to fuel the adoption of the flexographic printing machines, as the flexographic printing machines can operate at high speeds and its applicability on a different surface and water-based inks as well as oil-based inks.
• The computer-to-plate processes are being increasingly being used in flexoprepress that has enabled the machines to reduce the prepress times. The process has been extensively used in offset litho. The introduction of flat-top dots in Plates by several vendors has further improved print consistency and overall quality significantly​.
• Flexography is more flexible and less expensive to produce, the technology has been witnessing significant innovations in the prepress and press parts of the process, along with inks. For instance, UK-based MPS launched its new E-Sleeve technology, an alternative to traditional sleeves, at LabelexpoEurope 2019. The product enables printers to generate predictable results at better speeds, with assured quality tolerances and more reliable production cost calculations.
• Due to the impact of COVID-19, the vendors serving food and beverage as well as pharmaceutical industry reported significant growth. However, from supply side, the vendors faced issues in procurement of raw materail for the machines, due to logistic issues.

Key Market Trends

Food & Beverages is Expected to Hold the Largest Market Share

• The food and beverage industry is one of the significant consumers of flexible packaging products such as films, pouches and many more that are printed using flexographic printing machines. The increasing consumption of such packaging is expected to bolster the market demand for such machines over the forecast period.
• In February 2018, Constantia Flexibles announced its plans to construct a flexible packaging plant, by investing INR 1 billion. The plant would be equipped with a state-of-the-art Flexo printing press and laminators that can produce recyclable high-barrier laminates.
• The food and beverage industry is governed by stringent regulations pertaining to the usage of inks on the packaging and the labeling. As the flexographic printing involves usage of quick-drying and non-toxic inks, it is desirable in the printing of food & beverage packaging and is expected to boost the adoption of the flexographic printing machines over the forecast period.
• In March 2018 China's National People's Congress (NPC) passed a major cabinet reshuffle plan that impacts China’s food regulatory regime, including food-contact materials and established three new regulatory agencies, namely State Market Regulatory Administration (SMRA), National Health Commission (NHC), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA). Such instances are indicative of the fact that the market is poised to grow.
• The increasing consumption of alcoholic drinks such as wine is driving the players to up their production capacity thereby enabling them to meet growing demand. This is expected to boost the adoption of flexographic printing machines as these machines enable the players to not only increase production speeds but also provide them the scalability For instance, according to Vinexpo, them per capita Wine consumption in Italy increased from 45 liters in 2014 to 48.1 liters in 2018.

Asia Pacific is Expected to Register the Highest Growth Rate

• The e-commerce industry in the region is growing rapidly which is one of the significant factors that would fuel the adoption of flexographic printing machines over the forecast period as flexographic printing plays an essential role in the printing of labels, corrugated cardboard which are widely adopted across the industry. For instance according to Invest India the E-commerce market in India is also set to grow at a CAGR of 30% for gross merchandise value to reach USD 200 billion by 2026 and have a market penetration of 12% compared to 2% currently.
• The growth of the logistics industry in the region which is one of the biggest consumers of packaging and print labels is expected to boost the market growth over the forecast period. For instance, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the total value of social logistics in the January-July(2019) period grew 5.9 percent year-on-year incomparable prices to 163.8 trillion yuan (about USD 23.1 trillion).
• Also, the growing initiatives by the government to boost the manufacturing industry in the region is also one of the prominent factors that would boost the adoption of flexographic printing machines over the forecast period. For instance, In June 2019, Flipkart, in order to reduce costs and comply with the government's Make in India norms, relocated a significant portion of manufacturing and sourcing for private labels to India from China, Malaysia.
• Some of the prominent players in the market through strategic partnerships are entering the region in order to boost the market footprint. Such partnerships are expected to expose the region with new and innovative product offerings thereby fueling the adoption of the flexographic printing machines over the forecast period.
• In April 2018, DKSH Business Unit Technology, and SOMA Engineering, signed an exclusive distribution contract to provide sales and technical services for its center impression (CI) flexographic printing presses.

Competitive Landscape

The competitive rivalry in the flexographic printing machine market is high owing to the presence of some key players such as Koenig & Bauer AG, Mark Andy Inc. amongst others. Through research and development, these companies have gained a competitive advantage by continually innovating their offerings. These players through strategic partnerships and mergers & acquisitions have been able to gain a strong footprint in the market as well as being able to further develop the technology.

• October 2019 - BOBST launched VISION CI flexo press designed to deliver the most efficient performance for all production lengths on a wide range of substrates that is Fast to set up and changeovers and features technical innovations and automation that ensure repeatable process consistency, minimum waste, and easy manufacturing.​
• September 2019 - Omet launched XFlex X7, a 670mm (26in) width flexo press aimed at shrink sleeve and flexible packaging production. The press features another new development: Omet’s High-Value Rotogravure (HVR) print unit.
• March 2019 - Manugraph launched its first India-made CI flexo press at the IndiaPlast 2019 exhibition that has the capability of running at speeds up to 350 meters per minute.

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