Printpack India 2021 postponed – finally!

Planned limited virtual edition dates to be announced soon

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Printpack India
Printpack India postponed to May 2022 will take place at the Greater Noida Expo Centre

The Governing Council of Indian Printing Packaging & Allied Machinery Manufacturers’ Association (IPAMA) has postponed the upcoming Printpack India 2021 exhibition, which was slated to be held at India Expo Centre, Greater Noida from February 03-08, 2021. Since the opening of the booking, 285 companies had reserved space for participation.

Printpack

Keeping in view the impact of Coronavirus worldwide and specifically in India, safety and health of exhibitors and business visitors, prevailing market conditions, and travel restrictions, IPAMA has conducted a detailed survey of its exhibitors. Of the responses, 195 out of 302 (64 %) exhibitors voted for postponing the event while 36 (12 %) opted for canceling the present edition. The 15th edition of the Printpack India exhibition and the concurrent India Sign & LED Expo event will now be organized some later at what is being called ‘a safer period.’

IPAMA hosted a virtual press meet on 11 November 2020 to announce the postponement of Printpack India 2021. Dayakar Reddy, president IPAMA, said, “We held a virtual meeting of our governing council on 7 November 2020 to discuss the future of Printpack India 2021. We took the decision to postpone our upcoming show in February. We are not announcing the new dates because we don’t want to confuse our exhibitors and visitors. We would be closely monitoring the situation of this pandemic across the globe. Once we feel the situation is suitable to host the exhibition, we will immediately organize it within 100 days.

Virtual show for 50 exhibitors

“We have developed a world-class exhibitor and visitor portal during this unprecedented time that competes with the best international shows. Our governing council has approved a virtual show with 50 exhibition booths and will be announcing the dates very soon. We will also be conducting digital B2B meetings in selective countries like Latin America, Africa, and the Gulf countries,” he added.

In IPAMA’s survey of its exhibitors and members, 167 out of 219 companies (76%) chose to attend the postponed event. 131 out of 219 companies (60%) rated Printpack India as very important for India’s printing and packaging industries.

IPAMA has also sent the survey to 1.5 lakh visitors, of which 300 have responded in the last 40 hours. 25% of respondents said they visited the exhibition for the display of different brands of the same product shown by various companies under one roof, while 22% said they attended for good business prospects. 23% of visitors surveyed visited Printpack India for live demonstrations of machines, 17% for the display of machines and products while the remaining 13% did so for the competitive pricing of products.

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

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