Due to the epidemic this year, textile foreign trade has been hit hard, and all links of the entire textile industry chain are basically in dire straits. Fortunately, as the epidemic situation changes repeatedly and macro events occur frequently, textile orders can occasionally reach a small peak from the cracks. For example, the textile market after the National Day is basically like a peak season. However, there is one textile processing link that is extremely low-key this year. It seems that the changes in the entire market have little to do with itself. This link is the printing link.
Unlike the dyeing segment, where the market has been full and full this year, the status of various printing types this year has been inseparable from insufficient production and lack of orders. Among them, digital printing is the most popular. It can even be said that digital printing has encountered the biggest existential crisis since its birth.
Prices continue to plummet and it has become the cheapest stamp
If someone told you a year ago that digital printing was the cheapest type of printing common on the market, you would have thought that person was a textile idiot. After all, digital printing has basically appeared in an aristocratic manner since the day it appeared on the market. 100 yuan/meter for proofing and 70-80 yuan/meter for large products are the initial entry fees. Even after several years of market competition, , the price is basically above 10 yuan/meter. Even this price is still more than 5 times that of water printing and transfer printing.
However, in recent years, the price of digital printing has begun to plummet. It first entered the 10 yuan/meter range, and then quickly moved towards 5 yuan/meter. Especially this year, the price dropped faster. In June and July of this year, the mainstream price in the digital printing market was still at 4-5 yuan/meter. By November, some digital printing companies had already announced “free rice samples, 50-100 meters, 5 yuan/meter.” 100-500 meters is 3 yuan/meter, 500-2000 meters is 2.5 yuan/meter, and large goods are 2 yuan/meter over 2000 meters.” Super low price.
Taking an order of 2,000 meters with 5 colors as an example, the cost per meter of water printing is about 3.9 yuan/meter, transfer printing is about 6 yuan/meter, and 2,000 meters of digital printing is only 2 yuan/meter. . The market has reversed. In the past, digital printing was several times more expensive than water printing and transfer printing, but now it is less than half of water printing.
In today’s era of soaring prices, the price of digital printing has fallen below the bottom line every year, which is in sharp contrast to the continued rise of water printing and transfer printing. Under such circumstances, what profits can digital printing companies make? Word.
Behind the plummeting prices is the survival crisis of enterprises
“Due to other developments, our factory is now selling the digital printing machine and blanket machine (including business license and environmental protection indicators) together…” Similar to this type of digital printing company “selling factory “News, this year’s textile people should be familiar with it. In fact, the “factory selling” company in the picture started in the first half of the year, which means that this digital printing factory has not been successfully sold in the past six months. The market’s indifference towards digital printing is evident.
There is a digital printing factory on the market, and its development in recent years may be the epitome of the entire digital printing industry. Before 2018, there were many people in the factory, including 3-4 people for tracing, 2-3 people for printing and printing, 2 people for blanket machines, and 1 person for rolling. There were about ten people in the whole company. But in 2018, the number of people in the company dropped to 3-4. After 2019, it became even more exaggerated. There were only 2 people including the boss and employees. In 2020, the boss has changed careers.
The production status of digital printing companies may be the most bleak among the textile processing links we are familiar with, but why has digital printing reached this point this year?
Ignoring quality, the market enters low-price competition
Digital printing has always been based on “low output, fine In the early years, customers who chose digital printing were also interested in digital printing for its fine patterns, bright colors and large number of colors. This model actually matches the current fashion trends in the clothing market such as less but more refined and quick response. However, in recent years, the overall status of the entire printing industry has been poor. Various post-finishing processes, such as paint printing, embossing, drop molding, etc., have occupied many traditional printing markets. This year, combined with the impact of the epidemic, most of the large traditional printing companies, water printing, can only maintain a 50% availability rate throughout the year. It can be imagined that the competition in digital printing will be fierce.
Compared with water printing and transfer printing, the threshold of digital printing is almost negligible. At the same time, the high profits of digital printing when it came out attracted many textile people in the market to follow suit. Over the past few years, the relationship between supply and demand has rapidly become imbalanced, and digital printing has been forced to enter low-price competition.
But low-price competition may be the most effective way to survive. First of all, low-price competition is not only to compete with peers for orders, but also to compete with water printing and transfer printing for orders. The combination of fineness, gorgeousness, no color registration restrictions and ultra-low price is basically a nightmare for water printing and transfer printing. Unless there are special requirements such as penetration, most customers may prefer digital printing.
But there is still a problem that needs to be solved, and that is output. However, there are already various high-speed printing paper machines on the market. In the past, the output of only 10-20 meters per hour is being replaced by various 100 meters/hour, or even hundreds of meters/hour.Replaced by machines.
However, the quality assurance obtained by low speed and low output can easily be broken. But in order to achieve sufficient output and dilute costs to obtain more orders, even if some accuracy is given up, it is not necessary. At present, many companies have made it clear that they choose the latter between quality and speed.
Digital printing has stepped down from the altar and entered low prices. This may be a helpless move due to the market situation this year, but it is absolutely It is a desperate counterattack of digital printing that is born to face death.
</p