According to a recent market survey by NAPCO Research/PRINTING United Alliance, key printing industry business indicators are showing improvement over the deepest days of the COVID-19 crisis. The activity is however still far below what was normal for this time of the year. But the movement off bottom is the first step towards recovery. From early May through early June, the printing industry took that step. The survey is part of NAPCO Research’s COVID-19 Print Business Indicators Research programme. The programme investigates the economic effects of the pandemic on the printing industry, how printers are responding, and how they can create a path forward.
More than 450 companies, including commercial printers, graphic & sign producers, apparel decorators, functional printers, and package printers/converters, were participated in the survey. Among all companies surveyed, sales fell 30.2 percent, on average, from early May through early June, increasing for 17.8 percent and decreasing for 73.1 percent. But two months earlier, sales dropped at an average of 53.7 percent, increasing for 4.3 percent and decreasing for 89.5 percent. Many respondents in the surveyed cohort question whether the uptick is sustainable.
