Printing Plates Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the printing plates market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global printing plates market reached a value of nearly $14.39 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.17% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $14.39 billion in 2023 to $17.13 billion in 2028 at a rate of 3.55%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.89% from 2028 and reach $20.74 billion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from the rising urbanization, growing automotive industry, increasing promotional and advertising activities and growth in food and beverage industries. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period include declining demand for print media.

Going forward, the rising penetration of e-commerce, growth in the pharmaceutical industry, increasing industrialization, growing textile industry and growth in the packaging and labeling industry will drive the market. Factors that could hinder the growth of the printing plates market in the future include increasing use of digital media.

The printing plates market is segmented by type into flexographic printing plates, digital printing plates and analog printing plates. The flexographic printing plates market was the largest segment of the printing plates market segmented by type, accounting for 44.23% or $6.36 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the flexographic printing plates segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the printing plates market segmented by type, at a CAGR of 3.88% during 2023-2028.

The printing plates market is segmented by sales channel into direct channel and indirect channel. The direct channel market was the largest segment of the printing plates market segmented by sales channel, accounting for 54.01% or $7.77 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the indirect channel segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the printing plates market segmented by sales channel, at a CAGR of 3.86% during 2023-2028.

The printing plates market is segmented by application into food and beverage, garment, automotive and other applications. The food and beverage market was the largest segment of the printing plates market segmented by application, accounting for 44.36% or $6.38 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the automotive segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the printing plates market segmented by application, at a CAGR of 4.25% during 2023-2028.

Asia-Pacific was the largest region in the printing plates market, accounting for 38.23% or $5.5 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by Western Europe, North America and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the printing plates market will be Asia-Pacific and Africa, where growth will be at CAGRs of 4.66% and 4.18% respectively. These will be followed by the Middle East and South America, where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 4.02% and 3.41% respectively.

The global printing plates market is fairly fragmented, with a large number of small players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 12% of the total market in 2023. TOYOBO Group was the largest competitor with a 2.1% share of the market, followed by Eastman Kodak Company with 1.6%, DuPont de Nemours, Inc. with 1.4%, Asahi Photoproducts (subsidiary of Asahi Kasei Corp) with 1.4%, Toray Industries with 1.3%, Flint Group with 1.1%, Element Solutions Inc. with 0.9%, Agfa-Gevaert N.V. (Agfa). with 0.8%, Esko-Graphics BVBA with 0.7% and Fujifilm Holdings Corporation with 0.6%.

The top opportunities in the printing plates market segmented by type will arise in the flexographic printing plates segment, which will gain $1.33 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the printing plates market segmented by sales channel will arise in the direct channel segment, which will gain $1.37 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the printing plates market segmented by application will arise in the food and beverage segment, which will gain $1.05 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The printing plates market size will gain the most in China at $716.74 million.

Market-trend-based strategies for the printing plates market include focus on developing advanced sustainable flexo plate materials, introduction of process-free offset plate technology, focus on innovative solutions such as new processes to convert flexographic plates into renewable, sustainable materials, developing advanced letterpress plates and expanding their facilities.

Player-adopted strategies in the printing plates market include focus on enhancing operational capabilities through the launch of new products and strengthening market position through strategic partnerships.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends printing plates to focus on developing sustainable flexo plate materials, focus on process-free offset plate technology, focus on sustainable flexographic plate solutions, focus on advanced letterpress plate development, focus on digital printing plates for growth, expand in emerging markets, continue to focus on developed markets, focus on expanding production facilities, provide competitively priced offerings, participate in trade shows and events, continue to use B2B promotions, focus on indirect channel growth and focus on automotive market growth.