The UV curing market—comprising UV, UV LED, and Electron Beam (EB) curing—has remained robust, with performance and environmental benefits driving sales growth across various applications. Within this landscape, inks and graphic arts have consistently emerged as one of the largest segments.
Advantages of UV Curing Inks
- Efficiency and Quality
UV curing inks offer unparalleled advantages in efficiency, quality, and environmental sustainability across diverse applications, from packaging to signage, labels, and commercial printing.
- Market Sales Forecast
By the end of 2031, the market sales for energy curing inks would reach $4.9 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 9.2% from 2020.
- Industry Optimism
Leading manufacturers echo the optimism, observing the industry’s growth and the declining utilization rates of certain existing technologies.
Printing Industry Insights
- UV and Energy Curing Flexo
Derek Hemings, Product Manager for UV and Energy Curing Flexo at Sun Chemical LED North America, notes the industry’s growth while observing declining utilization rates of certain existing technologies like traditional UV in flexo applications and sheetfed inks.
- Increased Sales
Hidetoshi Hiyatagai, General Manager of Overseas Ink Sales at T&K Toka, highlights the increasing sales of energy curing inks compared to traditional oil-based inks.
- Environmental Advantages
Tim Smith of Zeller+Gmelin emphasizes the environmental, efficiency, and performance advantages of UV LED curing inks, driving their adoption across the printing industry.
UV LED Technology
- Observations:Jonathan Hawkins of Zeller+Gmelin reports that UV LED technology’s growth surpasses that of traditional UV curing, driven by sustainability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness advantages.
- Growth Factors:Hidetoshi Hiyatagai points out the increasing growth of UV LED printing, attributed to rising electricity costs and the shift from mercury lamps to LED lamps.
- Advantages
UV LED technology, experiencing faster growth compared to traditional UV, has become increasingly prominent.
- Printing Industry Observations
Jonathan Grunke of Sakata INX emphasizes printers’ commitment to adopting UV LED on new and retrofitted equipment, especially for end-of-press UV applications.
- Significant Growth
Niewiadomska highlights UV LED curing’s significant growth due to increasing energy costs, reducing carbon footprints, and minimizing waste.
Overall, energy curing inks continue to gain traction in the market, driven by their performance benefits, environmental sustainability, and technological advancements such as UV LED curing.
