Once a hub for printing activities Syria is now hardly a place to send your printing jobs. The gap created following the unrest in Syria offered the neighbouring countries such as Jordan the opportunity to fill it, especially when it comes to packaging and label markets. Abdelrahman Ramahi, General Manager of Diaa Printing Press in an exclusive interview with ME Printer talks about the booming packaging and printing market in Jordan.
The facilities running the printing and packaging industry in Jordan are about 700 in number, which has witnessed the investment of about 100 million dinars and offer about 16,000 employment opportunities. Statistics show that the printing and packaging exports here have surged up to 364 million dinars.
Diaa Printing Press founded in 1992, specialises in high quality printing. It is divided into two sections- offset and labels. The former produces magazines, books, brochures and posters, while the latter serves pharmaceutical, cosmetic and other industries with its UV printing capabilities. The house last year invested in a Label machine from Etipol, to enhance their label production capabilities.
The beginning
“We started our label printing press recently on a small scale as a means of diversification. The production started with 60 tons per month, where we gained a 45% growth in our expected profit margin,” said Abdelrahman Ramahi, General Manager of Diaa Printing Press. “Label is a new market in Jordan that offers numerous opportunities, earlier the market suffered from shortage of production because very few printing presses (only 13) are dedicated to labels. The unrest in Syria, which earlier was the hub for producing labels created new opportunities for printers in Jordan. The cut throat competition in offset printing has also pushed us to look for different markets and find new revenues streams. Our expertise in the field has enabled us to enter label market easily,” added Ramahi.
The Market Dynamics
Speaking of the challenges that the industry faces Ramahi said “The biggest problem with this industry in Jordan is shortage of materials and supplies, consequently we have to import them incurring additional costs, apart from this in order to have loyal customers we need to ensure that the client gets regular and continuous supply, without any delay, which means we need to update our stocks, It also adds to our costs.”
The demand for the product by the client is equally high. To keep at par with their demands, an average order of about 10,000 labels, we have to be able to produce high quantities at competitive prices. The current market demands more of glossy plastic labels, especially for toiletries. Also there is an increasing demand for ‘Shrink Sleeves’ and in mold Labels.
“Label and Offset industries are two different worlds. The former requires a detailed study, to understand its potential, the technologies related to it, its customers and their demands. As we negotiate with several companies and visit shows we understand it better and work better,” remarked Ramahi. “We have just begun with the business, and currently studying the possibilities to invest in faster and more productive label press, in order to meet the growing demands of our customers. Also we want to focus more on ‘Shrink Sleeves’ as we see an enormous demand for it,” concludes Ramahi.
