Printing companies in the Middle East upping folding carton production

Economic development in the Middle and Near East is underpinned by oil prices and politics. Both have given rise to a spirit of optimism in recent years. In addition, societal and current social conditions like a booming young population and growing urbanization have played a significant role in helping to shape the economic upswing in the region. For example, fast food restaurants and the growing number of online food delivery apps are increasingly taking their place alongside the traditional dining options. Quite a number of foodstuffs are produced locally as competitively priced base substrates.
The changes are benefiting the food and packaging industries and, of course, also the packaging printers.

Folding cartons account for over 80 percent of the printed products in the Middle East, with most produced for the local markets. Competition between printing press manufacturers is stiff in these growth markets. Thanks to its solutions, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is a leader in this flourishing market segment. Its overall offering consisting of machines –both used and new –, software, consumables, consulting, training, service, and spare parts is well received in the markets. Heidelberg is represented locally by dealers with whom it enjoys long-standing relationships. It was this alone that enabled printing presses ordered before the coronavirus pandemic to be installed at customers’ sites by the dealers’ service experts during the pandemic. The new equipment gave the printing companies the productivity boost they needed along with greater flexibility. “In the packaging printing sector we offer our customers in the Middle East machines tailored to their needs,” explains Rainer Hundsdörfer, Chief Executive Officer of Heidelberg. “By installing machines on schedule in compliance with all the safety regulations we also showed that we are a reliable partner in both good times and bad.” Numerous recent customer installations underline this.