Waterless offset in the Indian ocean

Alongside a flurry of orders for sheetfed offset presses totalling far over €100m ($113m), on the last day of a spectacularly successful Drupa the Koenig & Bauer Group (KBA) announced the sale of a waterless KBA Cortina compact web press. Until now, with the exception of newspaper house Gulf News in Dubai, only European printing companies have installed the waterless Cortina, a press known for its excellent print quality. The 20th press ordered from this highly automated press series will produce newspapers, magazines, supplements and other print products thousands of kilometres away on the popular island of La Réunion which belongs to France.

The 4/2 press that is equipped with a hot-air dryer for the production of high-quality newspapers and semi commercials consists of a four-high tower for 4-over-4 printing, an autopaster and a KF3SC jaw folder. Provision has also been made for an extension at a later date. One major advantage of the waterless Cortina is that changing from coldset to heatset printing is possible without having to change the ink. It delivers a unique level of production flexibility with short makeready times.