Falling growth levels in Europe are a signal to the self-adhesive label industry to ‘wake up’ if it is to maintain its position over the next 10 years – and service to customers will become a greater key factor in winning that battle, according to industry expert Corey Reardon.
The president and chief executive of AWA Alexander Watson Associates outlined the 10-year prospects for labelling at this year’s FINAT’s 50th anniversary congress in Paris which, he concluded, could show a slight drop in growth in the best case scenario and a drop from the present five per cent expansion down to three per cent growth by 2018 as his ‘realistic and also worst case’ forecast.
“If the label industry met every challenge it is faced with, it could cope with the long term,” he said.
In 2007, the respective market shares for the various forms of product decoration showed wet glue at 50 per cent, self-adhesive 39 per cent, sleeving 8 per cent, with in-mould representing 2 per cent and other forms just 1 per cent. With a global growth rate of 4.7 per cent in 2007, geographical expansion varied from 8.9 per cent in the Asia Pacific region, to 2.4 per cent in Europe, with North America seeing a 2.5 per cent increase and South America 6.6 per cent.
In terms of growth by label formats, that 4.7 per cent overall growth showed heat shrink leaping by 9 per cent, self-adhesive by 5.6 per cent, in-moulds by 5.5 per cent, wet glue up by 3.5 per cent and other methods by 2.8 per cent.
“Growth is more dynamic in the emerging countries like China, India and Russia but the future expectations of growth in Europe are not overly exciting,” Corey Reardon claimed. Eastern European growth will slow and Russia will be the principal driver in the region. In North America, Mexico will show the greatest growth, while in Asia Japan will match performance in the developed regions, with China and India’s GDP expansion fuelling label demand.
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