Apprentices around Australia have the chance to win a free trip to PacPrint 2013 thanks to Printing Industries Association of Australia which is running the Print is Alive promotion.

The first casualty of the Geon crisis is the company’s Queensland businesses, which have been closed down by the receiver yesterday with the loss of all 80 jobs.

The Geon sell off has got underway with the labels business the first cab off the rank, the receivers have sold it to Blue Star NZ chairman Tom Sturgess.

Geon’s receiver McGrathNichol has vented at the company’s paper merchants for not maintaining supply during the receivership, and accusing them of holding the company ‘hostage’.

Geon’s break-up is looking increasing like the receiver’s best way to raise money, as a sale of what’s left of the company before it runs out of paper now looks unlikely.

If Geon is liquidated the effect on the printing industry may take tsunami like proportions, with dozens of suppliers, including many printing companies, likely to go down with it.

KBA has reported a rise in group sales by over 10 per cent to nearly €1.3bn and a positive operating profit of over €30m before special items, more than triple that of 2011 (€9.9m) in its preliminary figures as operating and free cash flow was also positive.

PrintNZ has engaged the services of stylist and presenter Lisa O’Neill for the next Women in Print evening taking place at Sorrento in the Park in Auckland on March 12.

Last week, a delegation from South Korea joined packaging printers from Great Britain the KBA facility in Radebeul near Dresden to get information on the latest trends in the printing and finishing of packaging products.

Amcor Flexibles was the recipient of two awards at the Flexible Packaging Association’s (FPA) Annual Achievement Awards held in Florida.

There has been a strong interest in Melbourne based Vega Press which has been in receivership since mid-February with industry players and financial firms looking at acquiring the 53 year old print business.

On March 3, the European Timber Regulations (EUTR) come into force, making placing illegal or timber products into European Union markets will be a criminal offence.

Auckland’s Soar Printing has scored a victory for locally-owned companies, winning the contract to provide Auckland Council’s external printing services for the next three years.

They have sponsors lined up and the course prepared, now organisers just need to find the players to compete at the 19th Anniversary Design & Print Charity Golf Tournament.

Brisbane based PAC (Packaging Adhesive Equipment Consultants) Solutions is the newest member of the Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association (APPMA).

The Geon sell off has got underway with its Christchurch labels business (formerly Kiwi Labels) the first cab off the rank; the receivers have sold it to Blue Star New Zealand chairman Tom Sturgess.

Registrations are now open for the Heidelberg Women in Print breakfast events, to be held in capital cities throughout the country during April.

The first Geon creditors’ meeting is underway in Sydney, against the backdrop of a company that is looking increasingly unstable.

Printing Industries Association Australia (PIAA) and the Graphic Arts Services Association of Australia (GASAA) have merged and are now one organization, with GASAA to operate under the name of Graphic Arts Services Australia (GASA) as a section within the amalgamated organisation.

Geon’s major labelstock supplier Avery Dennison has joined fine paper merchants by stopping supply to the embattled print group, heightening pressure on the company.