The firepower of lcoal printers combined with a low Aussie dollar is curbing the ability of overseas printers to service much of the local market is diminishing, with one of the biggest printers in Singapore and Malaysia pulling out of Australia.

Tien Wah Press which operates out of Singapore and Malaysia and has been selling here since 1981 has just closed its Australian sales office.

It is thought the focus of local printers on turnaround and service, partly thanks to the ability of the latest generaiton of presses to produce with minimal downtime,  together with a virtually on demand market where buyers do not want to store print, combined with the steadfastly low Aussie dollar, is responsible for the diminishing ability of Asian printers to service the market.

The Aussue dollar is down by a quarter against the US dollar of four years ago, and looks like it is going nowhere. This has added to the price of overseas print while hitting the margins of the printers.

Tien Wah is owned by Dai Nippon, the giant Japanese printing company, which in turn is part owned by Mitsubishi. 

It is not known what percentage of the market is printed in Asia, although it remains high in certain sectors, for instance non-time sensitive brochures.

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