Rich variety of flexographic inks and wide range of applications

Flexographic ink, also known as flexographic ink, flexographic printing ink, and aniline ink, refers to ink products that use synthetic soft elastic substances or flexible materials such as rubber as printing plates and are suitable for flexographic letterpress printing. Flexographic ink has the advantages of stable printing, fast drying, low viscosity, and green environmental protection. It is widely used in packaging and printing fields such as environmentally friendly bags and corrugated boxes. According to different raw materials, flexographic inks can be divided into flexographic polyamide inks, flexographic acrylic inks, flexographic polyurethane inks, etc.

According to the “2022 Flexographic Ink Industry Project Business Plan released by the Industrial Research Center, rubber is the main producer of flexographic ink. raw materials. In recent years, my country’s synthetic rubber production has continued to increase and ranks first in the world. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, my country’s synthetic rubber output reached 8.117 million tons in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 9.7%. Benefiting from the sufficient supply of raw materials, my country’s flexographic ink production has maintained steady growth. In 2021, my country’s flexographic ink production reached 98,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%. As market demand gradually releases, it is expected that my country’s flexographic ink production will exceed 120,000 tons by 2025.

There are many types of flexographic inks, with UV light-curing flexographic inks, solvent-based flexographic inks, water-based flexographic inks and alcohol-soluble flexographic inks as their main product segments. Water-based flexographic ink is widely used, accounting for nearly 50.0% of the flexographic ink market. In 2021, my country’s water-based flexographic ink production will reach 42,000 tons. UV light-curing flexographic ink has the advantages of high gloss and corrosion resistance. It is mainly used in the production of high-end packaging and printing products, accounting for nearly 15.0% of the flexographic ink market.

Flexographic inks are mainly used in packaging and printing fields such as corrugated box glass cloth, plastic film, paper bags, and environmentally friendly bags, accounting for 90.0% of the demand. Flexographic ink is a kind of liquid ink with low organic solvent content and less harmful gases emitted during use. It is an environmentally friendly ink product. As the concept of environmental protection continues to deepen, the application scope of flexographic ink continues to expand, and market demand becomes increasingly strong. In 2021, my country’s apparent demand for flexographic ink will reach 92,000 tons.

The major global flexographic ink manufacturers include Japan’s Toyo Ink, Japan’s Sakata Ink, and Germany’s Siegwerk Ink. my country’s leading flexographic ink company is Zhuhai Letong Chemical Co., Ltd., and its product sales have long ranked first in my country.

Industry analysts said that flexographic inks have excellent performance and a wide range of applications. As the concept of environmental protection continues to deepen, its market demand will continue growth, the future development prospects of the industry will be broader. There are a wide variety of flexographic inks, and driven by market segments, the industry’s development speed is accelerating. However, at present, there is still a certain gap between my country’s production technology and overseas developed countries, which is the main challenge facing the development of the flexographic ink industry.