The development is particularly satisfying in the market for paper converting machines. In this sector, the manufacturers recorded a 6 percent turnover increase and an order volume that had again risen by 13 percent. As a result, the volume of incoming orders rose in the two-digit percent range in three years in a row.

New confidence in markets – Demand for networked solutions
“The investment backlog of recent years in the printing industry is easing,” explains Heering, adding that printing and bookbinding companies have new confidence in the future and adjust themselves to the changing wishes of their customers with flexible and increasingly automated print processing and finishing technology. The German printing and paper technology industry offers digitally networked solutions that meet these demands. “In our industrial sector, Industrie 4.0 is no longer a vision. We not only talk about it, but offer our customers Print 4.0 process solutions ready for the market,” said the Managing Director of this industry`s VDMA Association.

The printing technology industry is stable – despite weak exports
In 2016, the manufacturers of printing machines had to accept stagnating turnover figures (+/- 0 percent). In addition, the level of incoming orders decreased by 7 percent compared to the year before when a 9 percent order increase was still registered. Heering links this development to the moderate export business, referring above all to China where a certain market saturation has set in after many excellent years. Since, furthermore, the Chinese economy has cooled down as a whole, exports to China only accounted for barely 9.2 percent of the total volume of 3.89 billion Euro during the first eleven months of 2016. A few years ago, nearly one third of exported printing and paper technology was still shipped to China. Considering this development, it now pays off that the German printing and paper technology industry pursues a consistently global strategy. “More or less half of the exports of our industry are accounted for by other markets in the world,” reported Heering.

Europe is the key market – Favourable market data in the US business
The key market of the German printing and paper technology manufacturing industry is still Europe. Exports to France, Italy, the UK, Spain as well as the Netherlands and Switzerland alone amounted to 1.02 billion Euro during the first eleven months of 2016; this corresponds to 26 percent of the total export volume of this industrial sector. A strong development was also recorded for business in the USA with a 13.3 percent share of exports.

With a view to the year that has just begun, Heering expressed cautious optimism, stating that the upward trend will probably continue as far as paper converting machines are concerned, whereas a further decline in turnover seems probable in the printing technology manufacturing sector. In this connection, he pointed out to the uncertainties related to the BREXIT and the protectionist course of the new US administration.

Plea for free trade
In light of recent events, Kai Büntemeyer, the Chairman of the VDMA Printing and Paper Technology Association, used the annual press conference to make a plea against protectionism. He stressed that the Association had supported the TTIP negotiations during recent years and established close contacts with the US American association of the graphic communications industry NPES, being convinced that free trade is a necessity. “In our business routines, we as internationally active entrepreneurs reach our limits time and again. We know from our corporate practice that there are still many trade barriers that should be removed – instead of being created,” he said, adding that a relapse into nationalism and protectionism will destroy many decades of economic development and threaten the global exchange of products and services.

(http://www.vdma.org – http://dup.vdma.org)