The global printing ink market is expected to grow almost 30 per cent in the next five years as the packaging and digital markets expand.

According to Transparency Market Research, sales of printing ink will rise from $18.9bn to $26.5bn by 2020 at a rate of five per cent a year.

“Rising demand for printing inks in packaging application products, such as flexible packaging, tags and labels, and metal cans, is anticipated to drive the global printing inks market in the next few years,” the research firm says.

Offset printing accounts for about 40 per cent of ink sales but digital, especially water-based ink, is forecast to grow at a much faster rate.

Global demand for environmentally-safe printing inks such as water-based and UV-cured inks is estimated to increase at a rapid rate in the next few years,” the company says.

“Currently, oil-based printing inks and solvent-based printing inks account for a major portion of the printing inks market; however, growth in water-based printing inks is anticipated to overshadow the market share of the two segments in the next six years.”

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