Inks at a Crossroads

How Innovation and Sustainability Are Rewriting the Global Print Palette

A Market in Transformation

Once a quiet backbone of the print industry, the global inks sector has become a dynamic arena of chemistry, regulation, and digital disruption.

According to Smithers’ latest report The Future of Global Ink Markets to 2030, global ink consumption is forecast to reach 3.3 million metric tons in 2025 with a total value of US $35.8 billion.
By 2030, that figure will climb to US $40.2 billion, representing a 2.3 % CAGR in value and 1.4 % CAGR in volume.

While headline growth remains moderate, the industry’s direction is clear: away from declining publication printing and toward packaging, labeling, and digitally enabled workflows that prioritize speed, compliance, and sustainability.

Packaging Leads, Publications Retreat

The balance of power has decisively shifted toward packaging and labels, now the lifeblood of many ink manufacturers. As publication print volumes shrink, packaging applications continue to surge, propelled by e-commerce, localized manufacturing, and growing brand interest in short-run customization.

Simultaneously, food-contact compliance has become non-negotiable. Printers and converters increasingly demand inks that are safe, traceable, and fully compliant with evolving EU and FDA regulations — a challenge that is reshaping ink formulation at its core.

Digital Print: Fast, Flexible, and Growing

Digital printing remains the industry’s fastest-moving frontier.
The call for shorter runs, rapid turnaround, and personalized graphics favors inkjet technology over toner, with new single-pass, high-speed presses setting the pace.

R&D is gravitating toward water-based and radiation-curing chemistries, including hybrid UV-water formulations that deliver lower VOC emissions and faster drying cycles.
To support consistent uptime, OEMs are integrating recirculation systems, nozzle-health monitoring, and inline compensation tools directly into their hardware.

Many leading vendors — HP Indigo, Fujifilm, Canon, and Domino — continue to operate within closed consumables ecosystems, tying print quality and warranties to certified inksets. The cost-per-page business model, while not universally popular, is proving effective at minimizing downtime and enabling predictable supply chains. Even analog press suppliers, notably Heidelberg through its Subscription Smart and Subscription Plus programs, are exploring this service-based model that bundles consumables, maintenance, and workflow optimization into one subscription.

Automation and the Rise of Smart Pressrooms

Pressrooms are steadily evolving toward automation and intelligent workflow management.
The next generation of “smart factories” aims for lights-out printing, where presses self-monitor, recalibrate, and run unattended during off-hours.

A major enabler is extended-gamut printing, where printers replace multiple spot colors with fixed inksets (CMYK + OGV). This approach reduces downtime, improves color consistency, and eliminates unnecessary wash-ups. Manufacturers such as BOBST and Mark Andy now integrate this feature into their flexographic lines, aligning analog printing with the efficiency standards of digital systems.

Green Chemistry and Circular Thinking

Sustainability is no longer a marketing slogan — it’s the R&D foundation of every serious ink manufacturer.
Smithers data show that water-based inks already account for 18.5 % of global volume, forecast to approach 20 % by 2030.  These formulations are rapidly replacing solvent-based inks in flexo, gravure, and inkjet applications due to their environmental advantages and regulatory alignment.

At the same time, producers are shifting toward bio-based raw materials and resins that simplify substrate recycling. Nitrocellulose, long a staple of flexible packaging inks but difficult to de-ink, is being phased out in favor of more circular alternatives.

Europe’s forthcoming Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) will formalize eco-design standards by 2030, mandating recyclability criteria that are expected to influence global compliance norms.
As a result, VOC-free, low-carbon, and eco-formulated inks are emerging as the new commercial benchmarks.

Food Contact, Functional Films, and the Next Frontier

The next frontier lies where materials science meets food safety.
With the market’s pivot toward paper-based and mono-material plastics, converters need inks that adhere to low-surface-energy films while curing fast and maintaining durability.

Emerging generations of UV-curable and water-based food-contact inks are addressing this need for labels, corrugated board, and flexible packaging — ensuring both performance and compliance.
In parallel, functional coatings and conductive inks are opening the door to smart packaging, RFID, and printed electronics, broadening the very definition of “ink.”

Regional Spotlight: Middle East Market Poised for Expansion

While global trends dominate headlines, the Middle East is quietly becoming one of the most promising emerging ink markets.
According to Polaris Market Research, the region’s printing-inks market was valued at US $2.74 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach nearly US $3.9 billion by 2034, a robust 3.6 % CAGR.

• Saudi Arabia leads the region, accounting for around 44 % of total value in 2024, supported by industrial diversification and consumer-goods growth.
• Lithographic printing remains the dominant process (≈ 44 % share), while acrylic-resin systems hold roughly 31 % of the market thanks to their gloss, durability, and color fidelity.
• Packaging and labels comprise more than 40 % of regional ink use, driven by growth in food & beverage packaging and e-commerce branding.

Across the GCC, UAE and Saudi Arabia are spearheading adoption of water-based, UV, and hybrid ink technologies aligned with national sustainability targets.
Challenges remain — particularly the region’s reliance on imported raw materials, limited domestic ink manufacturing, and a shortage of advanced pressroom specialists.

For suppliers, success will depend on:

• Building local service and supply networks;
• Delivering food-safe, low-VOC formulations; and
• Tailoring digital inkjet chemistries to local substrates and humidity conditions.

The Middle East is not merely following global trends — it is fast becoming a testbed for sustainable, high-performance ink solutions.

Innovation Is the New Currency

As raw-material costs fluctuate and customer expectations evolve, innovation — in chemistry, workflow, and sustainability — remains the industry’s most valuable currency.

The printing-ink market may not be expanding dramatically in tonnage, but it is evolving intelligently: cleaner, faster, smarter, and more connected to the digital ecosystems shaping the future of print.

Key Figures at a Glance (2025 – 2030)

Sources and References

1. Smithers (2025). The Future of Global Ink Markets to 2030. Smithers.com
2. Global Printing Inks Market Up 2.4 % a Year to 2030 – Smithers. Converting Quarterly, 2025. convertingquarterly.com
3. Smithers (2018). Packaging Inks Lead Growth in the Printing Market. smithers.com
4. Polaris Market Research (2024). Middle East Printing Inks Market Size and Forecast 2024–2034. polarismarketresearch.com
5. Market Data Forecast (2024). Middle East Printing Inks Market – Trends and Analysis. marketdataforecast.com