FUJIFILM FIGURES SHOW OFFSET RECOVERY UNDERWAY

In a sign of good news for the commercial print industry, major industry supplier Fujifilm has lifted its full year forecast on the back of rising volumes in offset plates.

Releasing its nine month figures, Fujifilm said plate sales are recovering as the offset industry rides Covid recovery around the world. The rise in plate sales tallies with recent news from all five offset press manufacturers, who are seeing a surge in orders, as the Covid gloom lifts in the western world.

Sales at Fujifilm’s materials division were up 11.4 per cent to ¥464.9bn (A$5.5bn) in the nine months to 31 December last year. Operating income jumped 25.9 per cent to ¥57.9bn.

The company said that graphics communication revenue climbed “as sales in the printing plates field rose in line with a recovery in demand from the Covid-19 pandemic, mainly in Japan and the US”.

It also pointed to the launch of its new Revoria brand for production printers, including the Revoria Press PC1120 high-end production colour digital press and the Revoria Press E1 monochrome printer, and the new version of its B2 inkjet sheetfed Jet Press 750S High Speed Model during the period, as portents for improved figures into the future.