Printing industry spends up big on capital equipment

In the 12 months leading up to September 2005 the graphic arts industry spent some $706 million, a rise of 38 per cent over the previous year, according to the September 05 quarter private capital expenditure data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Hagop Tchamkertenian, manager for industry and commercial policy at Printing Industries, says the figures confirm trends on the amount of money printers are spending on new technology.

“Our Printing Industries,Trends reports have consistently shown that capital expenditure outcomes and expectations remain positive despite challenging business conditions being reported by the industry,” he says.

“We have the situation where despite deterioration in key economic indicators such as production and sales, the industry continues to invest and capital expenditure expectations continue to remain strong.”

Australia-wide data shows that total new capital expenditure rose by 5.1 per cent during the quarter to reach a figure 22.2 per cent higher than a year ago. A breakdown of the figures shows buildings and structures grew by 5 per cent for the quarter and 26.3 per cent compared to the same period a year ago. The reported increases for equipment, plant and machinery were 4.5 per cent and 19.8 per cent respectively.

While new investments in equipment, plant and machinery declined slightly in seasonally adjusted terms during the September quarter, the year on year increase was a solid 19.8 per cent.

The spectacular outcomes reported by the printing, publishing and recorded media industry, show that compared to the June 2005 quarter total capital expenditure was reported to have increased by 18.6 per cent and by 46.6 per cent compared to September quarter 2004.

Looking at industry projections and forecasts, more than $500 million worth of capital expenditure plans are in the pipeline for the next nine months. Depending to what extent these expectations are realised, total capital expenditure for the 2005-2006 financial year could range between $604 million and $733 million.