August 2020

Output and orders sink to new depths in Q2 amidst Covid enforced crisis in confidence

But rebuilding is underway in Q3.

The UK printing and printed packaging industry hit a record low in the second quarter of 2020. The Covid-19 outbreak hit at the end of Q1, but it is Q2 that has taken the brunt of the impact as both output and orders recorded their worst ever balances - in line with the forecasts provided in Q1. However, expectations for Q3 reveal some improvement, in comparison to Q2, is to come - but it is certainly not a dramatic return to pre-coronavirus normality.

The latest Printing Outlook report reveals that 15% of printers managed to increase their output levels in the second quarter of 2020. Fewer (11%) were able to hold output steady, whilst 74% were adversely affected by a decline in output. The resulting balance (the difference between the ups and the downs) was -59, a further drop from the -43 reported in Q1 and marginally below the Q2 forecast (-55).

This is the worst quarterly report on record, undercutting the -51 recorded in Q1 2009 during the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis.