Australian printing trade show PacPrint is reported to be chasing 2022 dates after organisers pulled the plug on this year’s show.

Currently June 28 June to July 1, 2022 is the first block available at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre. Previously PacPrint was to have been held from September 28 to October 1. It's not clear whether an earlier date would be considered if it became available.

After promoting the event by EDM this morning, the PacPrint board announced the “inevitable” decision to postpone the show via its Facebook page early this afternoon.

It says the move to mid-2022 is due to ongoing uncertainty caused by COVID outbreaks around the country, citing the current situation in Sydney and, to a lesser extent, Melbourne, Queensland and South Australia.

“The past couple of weeks has demonstrated that, unfortunately, this pandemic is far from over,” chair Sue Threlfo says.

“Realistically, we have come to accept that restrictions will continue to apply for some weeks and perhaps months to come, which may impact not only on the venue arrangements, but on the ability of our exhibitors to properly prepare their stands.

“We’ve been in constant discussions with the MCEC and with Austrade, and the owners of the shows Visual Connections Australia and the Print & Visual Communications Association (PVCA), as the situation has evolved.

“We are all in agreement that the increasing uncertainty for our exhibitors and visitors has become untenable, so we have made the exceptionally difficult decision to postpone the expo until 2022.”

Threlfo says exhibitors are supportive of this decision and have indicated their commitment to the show remains unchanged.

Pacprint 2021 (above) would have been a starkly different show to previous events, even as recent as 2018, with only Ferag listed among “traditional” newspaper industry vendors, a category which now reflects the “maturity” of the Australian news market. Local distributor Currie and digital print vendors including Fujifilm – which has embraced Fuji-Xerox – HP, Screen and Konica dominant by stand-size are among those which have embraced the changed segment.