World label shipments to grow, says study
World label shipments are forecast to advance at an annual pace of almost 7 percent off a weak 2001-2002 base and surpass 36 billion square meters in 2007. In value terms, output will grow over 9 percent annually to $73 billion, which will require some $35 billion of label stock. Gains will be fueled by expansion of the world’s packaged consumer goods markets.
These findings are part of a new study from The Freedonia Group Inc., a Cleveland-based industrial market research firm.
Also important will be the diffusion of advanced logistics and data processing systems throughout the developing world, and the development and penetration of technologically sophisticated, value-added labels.
The best gains are expected in the world’s emerging economies, which already account for over one-third of global label production. Label markets in developing countries will enjoy robust growth, fueled by generally healthy economies, new free trade agreements, rising populations and expanding consumer sectors increasingly able to satisfy their desire for foods, beverages, personal care items and other highly packaged consumer products.
East European nations such as Poland, Hungary and Russia will log some of the best gains, as greater self-sufficiency in label production is achieved and West European manufacture of both labels and labeled consumer goods shifts to low cost offshore venues. China, which recently surpassed Japan as the second leading label producing nation after the US, will also experience explosive growth. Adoption of advanced inventory control systems in developing areas will also buoy label demand, as will the expansion of marketing-focused capitalist economic systems.
Pressure sensitive labels, which surpassed wet glues as the leading label type in the late 1990s, will account for more than 57 percent of the global market by 2007 . In terms of materials, plastic labels will continue to penetrate traditional paper applications, capturing 28 percent of the world market by 2007, up from 23 percent in 2002, the report says.
Technological, financial, aesthetic, performance and environmental considerations will all favor the use of plastic over paper substrates.
The study, titled World Labels, is available for $5,200 from The Freedonia Group. Contact Corinne Gangloff by phone at 440-684-9600, or e-mail [email protected]. Information is also available at the company’s web site: