9 November 2016

Print battles to defy the pessimistic forecast for Q3

The UK printing industry has not sunk to the pessimistic forecasts that were feared for Q3 – performance was still subdued but some degree of Q4 boost is expected to kick-in. The latest Printing Outlook survey reveals that almost two-fifths of printers (38%) maintained output levels in the third quarter of 2016, 30% experienced a fall in output and 32% were able to increase output. The resulting balance (the difference between the ups and the downs) was +2; marginally down from +3 in Q2 but some way above the forecasted balance of -14. However, this is the lowest Q3 balance for four years.

Download the press release below.

Also in Printing Outlook this quarter:

• Costs – paper & board, ink, labour and energy.
• Pay Reviews – activity and average % changes.
• Investment – tracking intentions for plant & machinery, training & retraining, product & process innovation and buildings.
• Data on capacity, productivity, margins, access to finance, late payment and more.
• Consumables – paper consumption data and printing ink volumes and values.

Printing Outlook is available (free to BPIF members and £40 to non-members) from the BPIF website using the link below.