Current situation and analysis of offset printing

Current situation and analysis of China's offset printing plate industry

production and sales of PS plates in 2003. At present, there are about 30 PS plate manufacturers (mainly those with reel type PS plate production lines) in China. In 2003, new PS plate manufacturers were built, and more than 10 PS plate production lines were added. The speed of the new PS version production line is generally more than 10 m/min, including 1 production line of 60 m/min, 2 production lines of 30 m/min and 1 production line of 20 m/min. According to the statistics of the printing equipment branch, the national PS edition output was 80million square meters in 2002 and 94million square meters in 2003. In recent years, the growth momentum of PS version production has always been maintained at 20% - 30%, as shown in the figure

the increase of PS version production in the past five years can be seen from the above figure. The growth rate of PS version production in the past two years is obvious. "Chen Weihong said that it is significantly higher than the previous two years, with an annual growth rate of less than 20%, while the growth rate from 2001 to 2003 reached 30%

ps version production has increased year by year, which has also intensified the competition in the PS version industry. On the surface, the inventory of PS version manufacturers is not much, but in fact, price competition has always existed. At present, the price of aluminum plate has been rising again and again, while the sales price of PS version has been stable or even decreased, which shows this point; In addition, some manufacturers have experienced the phenomenon of insufficient operation, low utilization rate of equipment, and high utilization technology of catalytically active nano carbon based materials

fortunately, the number of exported PS versions has increased to a certain extent; In 2002, China exported 4.25 million square meters of PS version. In 2003, the export volume of PS version was 7.17 million square meters, and the export growth rate reached 68%

pay more attention to quality. In July 2003, it was learned from the Symposium of some printing plants held by the printing equipment branch of China printing and equipment industry association that the quality of most plates used now has been improved to varying degrees, and there are few plate changes due to quality problems. The main problem faced by plates is more subtle and specific process problems in the use process. For example, the photosensitive speed of the plate, the tolerance of development, the convenience of operation, and whether the after-sales service is in place. At present, larger plate manufacturers pay more attention to the quality and performance of products. For example, they have increased the rough surface treatment process and primer process in the production process, improved the color difference changes before and after the plate exposure, and made the printing operation more scientific, simple, and the quality more stable and reliable

progress of CTP plates with the popularization and application of CTP technology, the installed capacity of CTP equipment is increasing, and the domestic voice for domestic CTP plates is also growing. According to statistics, the installed capacity of domestic CTPs was 61 before September 2001, and 226 in September 2003. Although the absolute value of this figure is small, and the total number of versions used cannot be compared with the number of PS versions, it has attracted great attention of PS version manufacturers. Domestic lucky group took the lead in launching thermal preheating negative CTP plates, and then expanded to other forms of CTP plates; The Institute of physics and chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has begun to establish a production line after the successful pilot test of silver salt CTP plates; In April, 2003, Shanghai Institute of printing technology launched a non silver photopolymer CTP plate for laser direct plate making, which is another type of CTP plate after silver salt CTP plate and thermal CTP plate, marking that three major direct plate making plates in the world have been successfully developed in China. These achievements will promote the promotion of CTP technology in China in the future. At the same time, China's CTP market has also attracted foreign well-known manufacturers of photosensitive materials to participate in the competition in the plate industry

after Fuji Xingguang Co., Ltd. was jointly established by Fuji company of Japan and China Institute of Printing Science and technology, the original production line 1 was first technically transformed, the speed was increased from the original 15 m/min to 18 m/min, and devices such as coating wool air guide layer were added. Not long ago, high-performance VP and vsp-a new PS versions were launched, and their market share is rising. Now the second production line with a speed of 30 m/min adopts the advanced technology of Fujifilm company of Japan, which can produce high-quality PS and CTP plates. The company will also launch a thermal positive CTP version suitable for various direct plate making machines such as Creo, big Japan screen, Heidelberg and Agfa at the end of 2004, and a photosensitive violet laser CTP version suitable for Fujifilm vx-9600ctp, v-9soocctp-6000ctp and other models at the end of 2004

in order to meet the needs of CTP printing plate market, Agfa has built a printing plate factory in Wuxi, China. Since breaking ground in Wuxi New Development Zone in 2002, it has been completed in September 2003. The newly built plate production line can run at a speed of 60 meters/minute, with a maximum annual production of 25million square meters, and can produce ordinary PS plates and CTP plates

although the scale of Kodak Polycom's factory in Tianjin is small, they have their own characteristics. It is very simple to provide users with the whole roll of PS or CTP plates produced abroad after cutting and packaging in China

internationally, Kodak Polaroid, Fuji and Agfa have established plate production bases in China in different forms, which will further promote the development of plate manufacturing technology in China, promote the application of CTP technology in China, and increase the output of high-quality PS plates in China. At the same time, it is inevitable that China's booming PS plate industry has added high-level competitors. Therefore, The domestic plate industry will face a test of reshuffle

problems faced by offset printing plate industry offset printing plate is an important part of printing equipment. At present, we should actively promote the development of high and new technology, vigorously improve the grade of products, strengthen the matching of auxiliary materials for automatic conditioning of cooling flow of the original electronic control system, and create an orderly competitive environment

1. As an allotrope, it should be cautious to build a new PS version production line. In view of the fact that the production capacity and output of PS version have been oversupplied, it is not appropriate to build more PS version production lines in the future. The development of PS version should strive to improve quality and grade, increase varieties, and strive for more products to reach the level of international or domestic famous brand products. To expand the scale of enterprises, we should proceed from reality, from the technical strength and new product development capacity, and consider the degree of market accommodation to avoid waste caused by insufficient construction

2. Seize the development opportunity of CTP. With the progress of printing technology, the number of manufacturers using CTP plates is increasing year by year. The increase of CTP plates will inevitably lead to the reduction of the consumption of PS plates. Although the printing installation and printing equipment will increase every year, they will never develop at the speed of 30% like PS plates. At present, CTP plates mainly have three types: thermosensitive resin plate, photosensitive resin plate and silver salt composite plate. It will take some time to realize large-scale production

3. To speed up the development of supporting materials, aluminum plates are needed for both PS and CTP plates. At present, the production capacity of PS plates in China is close to 100million square meters, and the supply of aluminum plates is less than 30000 tons, that is to say, more than half of the aluminum plates need to be imported. In addition to the insufficient quantity, the quality of domestic aluminum plates is also deficient. If relevant fields can seize the opportunity to improve the quality and output of aluminum plates from the perspective of equipment and technology, it will undoubtedly promote the development of printing plates

ps version of other supporting materials, such as photosensitive glue, sulfonphthalein chloride, tree fingers, solvents, dyes and packaging materials, should also make its products gradually become branded and large-scale, and stabilize product quality. PS version manufacturers can divide the work properly and make a certain product more refined

4. Calmly deal with the domestic and foreign markets. PS version should not only focus on the domestic market, but also actively explore foreign markets. To participate in international competition, we should abide by the principles of foreign trade, not only considering the price factor, but also emphasizing quality and variety, so as to enhance the brand's sense of competition and win with reputation. At present, the price of some enterprises is too low, and the price competition disturbs the normal plate export market, which is not conducive to the domestic PS plate to the international market