NAPL: No Improvement for Half a Year

The commercial printing business is not likely to experience any meaningful improvement until well into the second half of 2009. That's the latest prediction from NAPL, the National Association for Printing Leadership.

NAPL’s Printing Economic Research Center notes that this economic downturn is different than previous recessions, because the industry is changing structurally as well as cyclically and, therefore, stronger and more creative responses are required by today’s printers.

Specifically, NAPL projects:

• Industry sales will decline by as much as 3% in 2009, after having declined by approximately 2% in 2008.

• Profits are expected to remain under severe pressure.

• The gap between industry leaders and all others will continue to widen.

• Cost inflation will recede in 2009, but so will pricing power.

Recommendations for action steps to come out of the recession on the positive side of the ledger sheet can be found in NAPL’s State of the Industry Report, 7th edition.