June 2020

Demand and confidence decimated in Q1 as COVID-19 impact strikes the printing industry

Q2 to bear the brunt of the downturn.

The UK printing and printed packaging industry suffered a dramatic shock at the end of Q1 2020. 2019 ended with two successive quarters of marginal improvements in output, and a more positive forecast for Q1 - the COVID-19 outbreak hit hard and fast to negate the forecast and sink both output and order performance balances deep into record negative territory. Orders and output are forecast to deteriorate further in Q2, despite the stabilising effect from much of the packaging sector.

The latest Printing Outlook survey reveals that 17% of printers increased output levels in the first quarter of 2020. Slightly more respondents (23%) held output steady, whilst 60% experienced a decline in output. The resulting balance (the difference between the ups and the downs) was -43, a long way below +6 in Q4 and the Q1 forecast (+15).

The worst quarterly report for 11 years - since Q1 2009 and the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis.