Inking the Future: Navigating the Asia-Pacific Printing Inks Market

The Asia-Pacific (APAC) printing inks market is set for lucrative growth in the coming years. The major factors propelling the advancement of the market are the rising usage of packaged food items and the growing requirement for bio-based products throughout the world. Printing inks are pastes or liquids that contain dyes or pigments and are used for coloring surfaces for producing images, designs, or texts. They are heavily used for coloring various surfaces such as cardboards and newspapers.

The rapid expansion of the packaging industry is predicted to fuel the growth of the APAC printing inks market in the coming years. Packaging has become extremely necessary in various sectors that need accurate labelling for ensuring the sale of authentic products to customers. The surging disposable income of people and the growth of organizations operating in various industries such as healthcare, consumer goods, and food and beverages are propelling the demand for printing inks in the APAC countries.

Depending on product, the market is divided into gravure inks, lithographic inks, digital inks, letterpress inks, flexographic inks, and others, wherein, the others category includes fluorescent inks, magnetic inks, and metallic inks. Amongst these, the flexographic inks category recorded the highest growth in the market in the past. This was because of the various beneficial traits of these inks such as their ability to support numerous colors and their ability to be used with both oil-based and water-based inks.

When formulation is taken into consideration, the APAC printing inks market is classified into solvent-based, oil-based, and water-based. Out of these, the oil-based category registered the highest growth in the market during the last few years. This was due to the ability of the oil-based printing inks to print well and better on various surfaces such as gloss or coated stocks than the other inks. Depending on application, the market is classified into commercial printing, publication, and labels and packaging.

Out of these, the labels and packaging category held significantly high market share in the past years, on account of the existence of a large number of packaging applications in the e-commerce industry and the subsequent surge in the requirement for printing inks. The market is currently recording the highest growth in China, as per the observations of the market research company, P&S Intelligence. This is ascribed to the high demand for paper media and packaging in the country.

During the last few years, regional countries such as Indonesia, China, and India have emerged as some of the biggest printing inks markets in the APAC region. The rapid commercialization and industrialization in these economies have caused a sharp rise in the usage of printing inks, especially in offices. Additionally, the improving living standards of people in these countries are pushing up the demand for food items, which is, in turn, propelling the requirement for printing inks in the region.