The Finat Awards, held in Taormina, Sicily in June and organised in collaboration with Gipea, had the theme ‘Embrace change, enjoy success’.
“We aimed to inspire leaders in the self-adhesive label industry to embrace change in order to secure future success,” says Finat MD, Jules Lejeune. “We received 355 award entries this year – a record in the history of the Finat label awards – and we see this as confirmation of returned confidence and positivity in our industry. The Finat 2011 label award winners go through to the finals of the World Label Awards.”
From the all-time lows recorded at the peak of the global financial crisis in mid-2009, demand for self-adhesive labels returned to pre-crisis levels in the course of 2010. Last year, an overall volume of around 5.7bn square meters was recorded – an increase of 11.4% compared to 2009, and 3.5% above the level recorded in 2007 (the year before the collapse of global financial markets).
Underlying this growth was the strong 9.5% recovery of the demand for rolls of paper-based label materials, representing some 70% of total demand for self-adhesive label materials. Exceeding this growth, however, was the increase in demand for filmic roll label materials (PE, PP, others), which amounted to 15.3% over the previous year. Filmic materials thus resumed their rise in the share of European self-adhesive materials demand, and this from just over 15% at the beginning of the decade to over 22.5% in 2010.
Geographically, growth in demand was driven by eastern and southern Europe (including Turkey). Both regions recorded healthy double-digit growth figures of 20.6% and 13% respectively. Within these regions, Turkey, Russia, Bulgaria and Romania stood out, with annualised growth well in excess of 20% – a sign of strong economic development in this emerging region.
In the more matured regions, growth of self-adhesive label demand was more modest at around 4.5-8.5%, though double-digit growth figures recorded for Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain ranked above the top end of this range.
Over the past three to four months, the pressure on raw materials has ‘aggravated’. Between January 2010 and January 2011, the benchmark pulp prices increased between 20-25%, while resins for LDPE, PP and PET, crucial to filmic label materials, increased between 25-35%. Polymers necessary for the production of adhesives even increased by 65-75%.
Also, ink suppliers are being faced with the impact of tight raw materials’ markets and have announced price increases up to 30%. The rise of crude oil, driven by the uncertainties in the Arab world, is further intensifying the pressure, not in the least because of the increase of related transportation costs.
Jules Lejeune adds: “Capacity limitations cause a gap in supply vs double-digit growth in demand – a gap that is only closing slowly. Our members are confronted with quarterly price adjustments or even ‘spot’ prices on materials not yet delivered. Under such market conditions, and because of the time lapse, contractual raw materials clauses only offer limited shelter. Ultimately, this could affect the financial stability of label businesses.”
Source: Finat
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