Price pains persist says Trends report

Price pressure and poor trading conditions continue to affect printers, according to the December 2010 quarter Printing Industry Trends Survey Report.

With these two grim factors still persistent, it is not surprising to find that business sentiment has registered a major deterioration compared to the previous quarter.

According to Hagop Tchamkertenian, Printing Industries national manager for policy and government affairs, reported industry outcomes for the December 2010 quarter were once again below expected outcomes for a range of economic indicators for the twelfth consecutive quarter.

He believes that the challenge facing industry participants now is to manage the expected moderation in trading conditions over the next quarter.

“While the Australian dollar is likely to continue to provide some welcome relief on the material cost front, printing business operators are likely to face challenges to their margins brought about by continued pressure on selling prices and weaker trading conditions,” he said.

However, the December 2010 quarter result did show that 75.2 per cent of respondents were operating at capacity/activity levels of 70.0 per cent or over, significantly up on the 63.0 per cent reported outcome of the previous quarter and slightly up from the 70.9 per cent proportion reported this time last year.

Respondents from South Australia reported the highest utilisation rates with 91.0 per cent of respondents operating at capacity utilisation levels of 70 per cent or more, followed by respondents from Western Australia (81.8 per cent), Victoria (77.8 per cent), Queensland (75.0 per cent), Tasmania and New South Wales (66.7 per cent each).

The outlook for general business expectations over the next six months remains favourable across most states. The most optimistic state over the outlook period continues to be South Australia with a net balance of 27.3 per cent followed by Victoria with a net balance of 20.0 per cent.

Over the outlook period the most optimistic sectors are the Digital Printing and Other Packaging and Paper Converting.