Global Release Liner Industry Conference

Opening the formal conference proceedings, conference chairperson Corey M. Reardon, President and CEO of market research consultants AWA Alexander Watson Associates, provided the first keynote address. He noted that regarding the release liner market as a whole, North America is still the largest geographical market at 37 percent with Europe in second place at 30 percent. But across nearly all applications, these are mature markets, and growth is slowing. Asia Pacific’s current share, 25 percent, is, however, likely to increase significantly. Annual growth of nearly 10 percent means that the region will soon overtake the traditional market leaders in terms of volume usage. Overall, AWA forecast a continuing annual growth rate for the industry of 4-6 percent.