The overall US package-printing and converting markets will grow 22 percent from 2004 to 2009, according to a new study by PRIMIR, the Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization, based in Reston, VA. These two fields accounted for $68 billion in sales last year, the study found, and is expected to reach $83 billion by 2009.

Among the four principal components surveyed, the tag and label market will grow the most over the next four years—up 30 percent, followed by flexible packaging at 25 percent, and folding cartons and corrugated packaging both growing 17 percent. Annual growth rates for these areas will range from 3 percent for corrugated to 5.7 percent for labels, says PRIMIR.

Another key finding: Sheetfed-offset equipment—the workhorse of the commercial printing field—is used for 81 percent of the folding-carton work, 53 percent of the rigid-packaging work, 32 percent of tag/label printing, 12 percent of the corrugated container work and 10 percent of flex-pack printing.