CtP demand heats up

Temperatures are rising in the European CtP market as Fujifilm and Kodak add new thermal production lines to meet increased demand for processless plate technology.

Kodak recently upgraded its Leeds-based UK site with a second plate manufacturing line to produce Thermal Direct processless plates for commercial printers, and processless PF-N plates for newspaper printers.

Fujifilm’s new thermal plate line in the Netherlands will be operational early January. According to Matt Ritson, marketing manager of Fujifilm Graphic Systems, the consistently high demand for CtP in Australia is something the company banks its business on. “It’s still very much at the forefront of our activities. We’ve just launched Pro-T3, the third incarnation of our processless plate.

“The local CtP market is resilient and defied predictions that we would be overrun by digital print. We still have digital solutions and the CtP market is still strong. Fujifilm has seen a slight increase on hardware and consumables for the calendar year 2011,” he says.

Fujifilm’s new CTP plate production line in the Netherlands features proprietary Multigrain V technology to stabilise the manufacturing process and ensure durability. The line is also equipped with a Co-generative Thermal Oxidizer (CTO) system to recycle waste heat.

Doug Edwards, general manager of prepress solutions at Kodak US, says the number of commercial and publication customers’ using processless manufactured plates continues to grow aggressively. “On the newspaper side, a growing number of newspaper accounts in the US and Canada now use PF-N Plates.

“Newspaper printers worldwide are interested in process-free technology, and we are expanding availability of PF-N Plates into other regions in the world,” he says.

Edwards notes that over the past two years, sales of processless plates has grown by around 35%. With the new line bringing supply closer to demand, Kodak has doubled its manufacturing capacity for this market.

Adrian Fleming, managing director of Kodak Australia and New Zealand
says local demand for CtP and processless plate technology is good.