There’s good news on the future of magazines, worries about paper production in India, and signs that companies in all regions are thinking about investing in digital print.

Print Business, based in the UK, has an interesting report from a white paper ‘Media’s Future in a post Covid World’ produced by UPM and Fipp, the International Federation of magazine Publishers, which suggests that consumers are willing to pay more for better quality magazines, published less often but with more pages.

According to Printweek, British security print group De La Rue is planning to double its Maltese facility, creating around 100 new jobs and making it the biggest site within the group for producing banknotes. This comes just nine months after the company ceased currency printing at its Gateshead site in the UK.

Printweek India has a story from Uttar Pradesh where a shortage of coal is affecting some 35 local paper mills that have coal-based power generation and which may have to shut down within a few weeks. This is due to the coal ministry prioritising coal supply to thermal power plants.

Indian Printer and Publisher reports that Monotech Systems, based in Chennai, has updated its UV LED Pixeljet MiniRTR, a 1.8m wide format roll to roll printer, which now uses Ricoh industrial grade printheads. It’s aimed at the signage and interior decor markets and prints CMYK with options for white and clear ink.

ME printer writes that Xerox Emirates has entered into a strategic partnership with Kodak Alaris to introduce a new generation of document capture technologies and advanced paperless services to the wider UAE market. This chimes with the UAE government’s push for technology solutions including paperless throughout the Emirates’ business eco-system.

Print21 reports that the ASX Australian Securities Exchange is planning to introduce more digital communication this year, which is likely to lead to less printed mailings and will be bad news for print and mail houses involved in the trade. This includes 100 tonnes of statements, earning ASX $24m a year.

The Canadian title PrintAction writes that Print Panther, located in Ontario, won a Gold award at the Foil and Speciality Effects Association annual awards for its work in producing the ‘Konica Minolta Extreme Digital Guide’, printed on a KM1e and finished with an MGI JetVarnish 3DS and iFoil S.

Still in Canada, PrintAction also has a story on Cober Solutions, a 100 year old family run print business based in Ontario, which is expanding with two HP Indigo 100K Digital Presses and HP Site Flow for data management and workflow automation to help it cope with more short run work.

Africa Print writes that Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa will be showing off its TASKalfa Pro 15000c high-speed production inkjet colour printer in October at the country’s Graphics, Print and Sign Live Demo expo. Apparently South African companies are looking to digital print to improve security and cope with shorter runs.

Finally, Labels and Labelling notes that the packaging company DS Smith has invested €7.5 million to expand the anaerobic treatment facility at its Rouen paper mill in northern France. This process, which uses micro-organisms to create biogas, means the site can use all of its waste water to generate green energy.