Schlott's fall came about after negotiations to refinance its debt broke down both with its banks and investors and it decided the Germany, Nuremberg-based €364.6m (£313.8m) turnover company was no longer viable.

It is now seeking an asset sale of the business with Schlott shareholders "unlikely ...  to participate in any proceeds generated therefrom."

Meanwhile Amsterdam-based CirclePrinters decided it could no longer afford to financially support its loss-making French operation which, after two years and €204m of debt forgiveness, capital increases and cash, was still struggling.

The business has been put into 'ouverture d'une procedure de redressement judiciaire' insolvency protection while it restructures. President of Circle Printers' French business Jacques Le Morvan said the company had been hobbled by "an inefficient cost structure for many years and has not been able to adapt quickly enogh to the deteriorating market conditions."

While ultimately it is an inability to change quickly enough in line with plummetting market conditions that has caused the companies problems, the implication of removing a significant amount of capacity from the European market is potentially positive for those remaining.

Polestar chief executive Barry Hibbert said: "The Schlott situation doesn’t make things more difficult for us – the opposite in fact because it reinforces the fact that the industry is going to restructure. What’s more important is the fact that capacity is coming out – by my calculations we’re looking at a 20% reduction across European gravure with the presses taken out at Varnicoat, Schlott and CirclePrinters. Gravure prices are firming up very strongly – we are putting prices up left, right and centre.

"We are on budget and doing fine. Our refinancing is going through and should be completed by the end of March or early April."

However, Prinovis head of corporate communications Alexander Adler warned that the European markets were still troubled.

"The main parameters in the European market environment haven’t changed significantly in comparison to last year," he said. "We are still dealing with the effects of a structural crisis and there is still a lot of volatility in prices.

"However, there is a movement in the market, which is clearly indicated by the Schlott insolvency and the joint venture of Burda and TSB in Germany. Will there be a change for the positive for the industry? For now, this is not clearly foreseeable."