KBA China has reported record sales and further orders as a result of exhibiting at China Print and the company expects 2009 could be its most successful year.

　　As deposit payments have already been received for the majority of orders, KBA is also confident that the presses will be delivered, contrary to the experiences of the business in many other cases over the past few months.

　　KBA said that 20 orders have been won for almost the whole format range, from the Rapida 75, the medium-format series Rapida 105 and 106, and through to Rapida 142 (102cm x 142cm) and Rapida 162a (120cm x 162cm) large-format presses.

　　The bulk of the orders, however, are for the Rapida 105 series, which the company said is popular in China.

　　Whereas, almost exclusively, four-colour and five-colour presses were being requested by users in China just a few years ago, the emphasis has shifted to presses with a coating tower for in-line finishing.

　　Guangzhou Junlong Paper Products is to receive a six-colour Rapida 162a with coater and extended delivery in August.

　　A five-colour Rapida 142 is to be delivered to Jiangmen in September, and an essentially identical large-format Rapida has been ordered by Xiantao Huamei Packaging Printing.

　　The presses on show at China Print were a five-colour Rapida 75, a Rapida 105 with five printing units, coater and extended delivery, and a four-colour version of the medium-format Rapida 106 press.

　　KBA also staged the Asian market launch of the Rapida 75, which was first unveiled at Drupa last year.