The first half of the year is about to end, the printing market is mixed

The first half of the year is about to end, the printing market is mixed

The first half of this year is coming to an end, and the overseas printing market has also finished the first half with mixed results. This article focuses on the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan, the three major printing industry developed countries, to see how the overseas printing market is developing.boxes for chocolate

United States: The M&A market is picking up

A few days ago, the US “Printing Impressions” magazine released a report on the status quo of mergers and acquisitions in the US printing industry. According to the data, from January to April this year, the merger and acquisition activities of the printing and packaging industry in the United States continued to decline, and in April it plummeted, reaching the lowest level in more than ten years. But at the same time, the report also pointed out that market mergers and acquisitions in multiple segments of the US printing and packaging industry are picking up.candy crush best level to collect fish for chocolate box

In the past few years, the commercial printing industry in the United States has maintained steady development, and some commercial printing companies have achieved record revenue and profits, and have been favored by professional investors again. In the past four years, the number of bankruptcies of commercial printing companies has declined. At the same time, the report also shows another phenomenon that has not been seen for many years: buyers with no experience in the printing industry have acquired small and medium-sized non-franchising commercial printing companies, and they believe that the printing industry is a reliable investment area. It can be seen that the merger and acquisition activities in the field of commercial printing have not stagnated, but have continued to grow.chocolate box cake mix recipes 

Judging from the transaction volume in the label field in the past few years, the merger and acquisition activities of label printing companies have been booming. According to the report, the consolidation of the label business is mainly driven by the strong interest of many private equity firms in the label market. Similar to the label printing market, private equity firms also see opportunities in the folding carton market, where M&A activity will pick up further. In January of this year, the number of acquisitions of packaging box manufacturers exceeded that of label printing companies for the first time.chocolate cake box mix recipes 

Now, with retailers reopening and a booming market for graphic signage of all kinds, the wide-format print market is looking up. But buyers also have concerns that the recent positive data is an unsustainable surge in pent-up demand due to the previous outbreak. As such, they are skeptical that revenue and margins will improve substantially in the wide-format segment. The report predicts that in the future, buyers’ concerns will diminish, and mergers and acquisitions of wide-format printing companies will also increase.chocolate gift boxes near me

According to the report, the merger and acquisition activities and market in the field of industrial printing will grow. Affected by the US manufacturing reshoring policy, the production of labels and other commodities will attract the interest of many buyers. In addition to policy promotion, the increase in domestic industrial printing in the United States is also affected by other factors. For example, previous supply chain disruptions have changed companies’ reliance on global suppliers.chocolate truffle box

UK: Cost pressure is easing

The results of a printing outlook survey conducted by the Federation of British Printing Industries on 112 printing companies in the UK show that in the first quarter of this year, the UK printing and packaging industry is facing challenges. Under the joint influence of high costs and weak demand, the British printing industry was suppressed, and both output and orders fell in the first quarter.forrest gump life is like a box of chocolates quote

In the survey, 38% of the companies surveyed indicated that their output declined in the first quarter. Only 33% of the interviewed companies indicated that their output had increased, and 29% of the interviewed companies kept their output stable. However, after cost pressures eased in the first quarter, the outlook for the printing market in the second quarter is more optimistic. 43% of the interviewed companies expect the output to increase in the second quarter, 48% of the interviewed companies expect the output to remain stable, and only 9% of the interviewed companies expect the output to decrease.german chocolate box cake 

When asked about the “industry issues that printing companies are most concerned about”, 68% of the respondents chose rising energy costs, which was lower than 75% in the survey in January this year and 83% in the survey in October last year. Since April last year, energy costs have been the biggest concern of printing companies. At the same time, 54% of the interviewed companies chose competitors’ pricing in answering this question. More precisely, some competitors’ pricing is lower than the cost. This ratio is the same as in January of this year. Wage pressure became the third concern of the interviewed printing enterprises, and 50% of the interviewed enterprises chose this option. This figure is down slightly from 51% in January this year, but still ranks among the top three on the list. The recent increase in the minimum wage level, the chain reaction of wage structure and salary differences, and the continued high inflation level have all aggravated printing companies’ concerns about wage pressure. “Continued, extreme cost pressures, coupled with economic and political uncertainty, have eroded printing companies’ earlier confidence in the market recovery. Despite the current challenges, companies are still relatively optimistic about the prospects for the printing industry. It is expected that after the currency Expansion rates will drop significantly and energy costs will stabilize further,” said Charles Jarrold, chief executive of the Federation of the British Printing Industries.hershey chocolate box

At the same time, for the first time, the survey also included sustainability-related questions in an attempt to learn more about the actions printing companies are taking to improve sustainability. The survey found that nearly 38 percent of companies surveyed are measuring their carbon emissions.horizon chocolate milk boxes 

Japan: The scale of corporate bankruptcy increases

According to the latest survey results of the Tokyo Institute of Commerce and Industry, from April 2022 to February 2023, the number of bankruptcies (with debts of 10 million yen or more) in the Japanese printing industry reached 59, an increase of 31.1% over the same period of the previous fiscal year. %.

The number of bankruptcies related to the epidemic increased to 27, an increase of 50% over the same period in the previous fiscal year. In addition to the market shrinkage, the epidemic has led to a reduction in various activities and a decline in demand for tourism and weddings, which has severely damaged the operation of the printing industry.

The number of bankruptcies in the Japanese printing industry has been lower than that of the previous fiscal year for three consecutive years since fiscal year 2019. There will be 48 bankruptcies in fiscal year 2021, the lowest level since fiscal year 2003. The reason for the continuous decrease in the number of bankruptcies is the significant effect of financing policy support related to the fight against the epidemic. However, with the delay in the recovery of printing demand, the number of bankruptcies will increase sharply in fiscal year 2022, and the support effect of financing policies during the epidemic has faded.

In addition, there were 28 bankruptcies with debts of more than 100 million yen, a year-on-year increase of 115.3%, accounting for nearly half of the total number of bankruptcies, about 47.4%. Compared with the 28.8% in the same period of the previous fiscal year, it has increased by 18.6 percentage points, and the scale of bankruptcy has expanded significantly.la chocolate bo

In the “Excessive Indebted Questionnaire Survey” conducted by the Tokyo Institute of Commerce and Industry in December 2022, 46.3% of the respondents in the printing and related industries answered that they were heavily in debt. 26.0% of the companies said that “after the new crown epidemic (roughly after February 2020) the debt is serious”. In the case of declining sales, not only has past investment become a burden, but corporate debt, which relies on the support of cash flow policies related to the epidemic, is also rapidly expanding.

In the early stage of the epidemic, Japanese printing companies received support from financing policies, and corporate bankruptcy was contained. However, corporate financing has become more difficult as structural flaws have weakened companies’ operational strength and the effect of policy support related to the epidemic has weakened. In addition, the depreciation of the yen and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine have led to soaring prices of paper, water and electricity, and increased shipping costs. The industry is worried that the bankruptcy of the Japanese printing industry will enter a stage of rapid rise.

The closure of printing enterprises and business dissolution increased by 12.6% year-on-year. In fiscal year 2021, 260 printing companies closed down or dissolved their businesses, a year-on-year decrease of 16.3%, a decrease for two consecutive years. However, during the nine-month period from April to December in the 2022 fiscal year, as many as 222 businesses closed, an increase of 12.6% over the same period in the previous fiscal year.