HP has launched the HP Digital Print Awards 2010 (Asia Pacific & Japan) – HP Scitex. The awards will serve to recognise the outstanding achievements and contributions of Print Service Providers (PSPs) in the signage industry across Asia Pacific and Japan, according to HP.

Chinese offset equipment supplier Duoyuan Printing has reported a 15.1 per cent revenue increase to US$42.4m for the second quarter ended December 31, 2009 compared with US$36.8 million for the same period last year. The company says the increase was primarily due to the growth in sales of multicolor presses.

HP has opened its expanded Scitex Regional Solution Centre in Hong Kong, which the company says has successfully shipped more than 100 HP Designjet L65500 printers since its launch in February 2009.

Gunns has reported a shocking 98.7 per cent drop in profits in its half year results to $400,000, compared with $22m in the second half of 2009. The troubled company says its woodfibre business was severely impacted by the strong Australian dollar and declining volumes.

Adhesive and film manufacturer 3M has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Japanese label producer A-One’s branded consumer and office label business and related operations. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

It appears that the B2 format sheet fed digital press may be the Holy Grail for press manufacturers. In the 1990s Indigo regularly brought a mock up of a future B2 format press to the different trade shows.

Luxury packaging tradeshow Luxepack has joined forces with Pentawards for the third time with the winners of the Pentawards design competition to be presented in Shanghai next month.

The buffeting the global print industry suffered in the latter half of last year has been reflected in the latest set of figures from merchanting giant PaperlinX. The company’s merchanting sales for the six months to December 09 fell across the board, with Australian, New Zealand, European and North American operations showing double digit declines, making a volumes increase in Asia the only bright spot for the company.

OPUS Print Group is expanding its print network into Singapore and China by forging a strategic alliance with printers in Singapore and China. Meanwhile the group is also strengthening its domestic New Zealand operations with the establishment of Ligare New Zealand.

ContiTech has announced it is expanding its involvement in the Asian printing industry with the recent opening of an autonomous service centre in Singapore.