Ahead of its traditional IfraExpo review of the newspaper press market - and following a two-press order for a German publisher - KBA is claiming leadership of the segment.

After a market swing towards lower performance presses for emerging markets in 2014, the company says it has resumed its "rightful position" with more than 30 per cent of the market.

While acknowledging that there are times when "one or two press orders" can be enough to secure "a misleadingly larger share of the cake", the German press giant is in the happy position of having an order for two of its Commander CL presses to announce.

Committing to two such 32-page presses - configured as a four-tower, two folder line complete with full automation - is Oppermann Druck-und Verlagsgesellschaft in Rodenberg.

KBA says a total of 14 Commander CL presses have been ordered since its launch four years ago, ten of which are in daily production. The company says

orders from the Middle East, Germany and Asia have helped it to a market share "well in excess of 30 per cent", in 2015. Market share between 2011-2013 was between 35 and 40 per cent, it says.

It attributes the 2014 fall to a shift in general demand which placed emphasis on less automated, lower performance presses for users in the emerging markets. "This is a segment in which KBA, for economic reasons, is less involved," the company says. "Correspondingly, KBA's annual market share for newspaper presses was temporarily down to below ten per cent last year."

Web offset business has returned to its "customary level" in 2015, and KBA says it "once more occupies the position which could be considered its rightful claim as inventor of the newspaper press".