Hello

Just how badly off is the printing industry as a result of the economic meltdown? According to the periodic National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) Printing Economic Research Center (PERC) report, while printing was one of the ten major manufacturing groups which suffered a drop in shipments in 2008 in the US, seven other industries were worse off with textile products and transportation equipment topping the list with declines of 12.3 per cent and 10.3 per cent respectively. Printing industry shipments suffered a 3.9 per cent drop compared to an overall fall of 2 per cent for the total manufacturing sector. The NAPL is an association that represents the US$ 120 billion graphic communications industry in North America.

Only 2 of 21 major industry groups covered by the Census Bureau of the US showed December 2008 shipments above those in December 2007 - beverage and tobacco products (+5.4 per cent) and food products (+0.4 per cent), providing a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel for the packaging segment. We have always maintained that even in periods of GDP decline, the packaging industry will hold out – after all, people still need to buy essentials. If anything, essential consumer products like food and beverages invariably show a positive growth trend as people tend to stay home more and eat out a lot less!

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Regards
S Chidambar, teditor@ippgroup.in