Eight years after it set up an export-oriented factory here, Japanese stationery manufacturer Shachihata Inc is looking to make a mark in the domestic market.

The company will sell its entire range of pre-inked stamping instruments, paint-markers, whiteboard pens and roller-ball and ball-point pens under the brands Xstamper and Artline. They will be on the shelves of 50,000 retail outlets within a year.

Shachihata entered India through its subsidiary Artline India Pvt Ltd in the late nineties, but sales consisted chiefly of permanent markers. “India is important to us. We are targeting a market share of 15 per cent in the next three years,” said Yasuji Mori, Director, Shachihata, at a press conference here today. .

Sales of writing and stamping materials touched about ₹7,000 crore this year and are growing at 10 per cent year-on-year, said Biju Oomen, General Manager-Sales, Artline India.

Selling pre-ink stamps is both a challenge and an opportunity, according to Anuj Arora, Marketing Manager, Artline.

The market is highly unorganised, and does not lend itself favourably to a manufacturer pitching a premium product at ₹300 a piece.

Production at the Chennai facility, which is about 3 million markers a month, is expected to be scaled up in the coming months to meet domestic demand and export requirements.

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