Printing Inks market in India

Posted By Team MCG On

printing ink markets

India is among the fast growing printing ink markets globally spurred by the rapid expansion of the domestic print markets. Backed by a strong demand from key end user segments such as package printing, newsprint, publishing and other commercial printing, the printing ink market in India has registered strong growth in the recent years. The printing ink industry is fragmented with over 400 manufacturers and a large number of players in the unorganised sector.

Printing ink sector in India is estimated at 230,000 tonnes for 2013-14, valued at around INR 46.5 billion; the market witnessed a growth of around 7.5% per annum during the last 10 years. Printed packaging accounts for around 27% of the demand for printing inks in India followed by newspapers at 20%. Commercial printing/ promotional and printed advertising together account for around 19% of the demand. Other key end user segments for printing inks include books and stationery. With the print sector forecast to grow at around 8% per annum, over the next 5 years, printing ink segment is expected to grow strongly during the same period.

Printing inks market in India

Micro Inks (Huber group), DIC India, Sakata, Siegwerk, Flint and Toyo are the leading manufacturers of printing ink in India. The printing ink sector witnessed consolidation during the last 10 to 15 years. Some of the notable acquisitions-collaborations in the Indian ink industry during this period are:

  • Huber Group – Micro Inks
  • Dai Nippon – Coates of India
  • Siegwerk –SICPA
  • Flint Group – Incowax

More recently, some players have embarked on capacity expansions

  • In 2013, Flint Group inaugurated new liquid ink plant in Vadodara
  • In 2012, Siegwerk India increased its printing ink production capacity at its plant in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, to 20,000 tpy from 10,000 tpy
  • In 2011, DIC India undertook capacity expansion at the company’s facility in Ahmedabad; the expansion increased the unit’s capacity to 14,400 tpy from 6,000 tpy

The top six players comprising domestic players and established multinational players account for around 75% of the market. Printing inks has a well-entrenched presence of multinational players who have entered the market either through a direct subsidiary or through Joint Ventures with existing domestic players. Going forward, the printing ink market is set to benefit from rapid urbanisation, increasing literacy rates and growth of FMCG sector.