Label Release Liner Report: Developments, Innovations and Challenges

An expanding consumer economy, with international product manufacturers already strongly represented in the region, requires local support in terms of packaging—so demand for labels is strong. Today, as a result, South America also hosts many of the world’s leading release base, facestock, adhesive, and raw material suppliers. Demand for release liner in Brazil represents 63 percent of the total South American market, with Argentina in second place at a modest 11 percent. Most liner consumption is in papers—primarily glassine—and 59 percent of the market is in labelstock applications. Pressure-sensitive labels are forecast to grow 5.5 percent in 2012—again, mostly in paper (83 percent). In 2011, Ribeiro said, there were 1,500 label converters in the region.