In a competitive market, the industry’s demands on release liners are ever changing, but innovation is ever present.

By Missy Smith

According to Conference Chairperson Corey Reardon, president and CEO of AWA, while North America and Europe remain the main release liner producers, both regions only saw about 4 percent growth in 2006. On the other hand, Asia and South America are growing at the fastest rate. Asia saw a 9.8 percent increase in 2006, and South America’s market grew by 12 percent. Because of these high growth rates, Reardon said, silicone coating capacity utilization is moving upwards, between 65 percent for in-house coaters and 74 percent for commercial coaters. But, industry threats including liner waste issues, linerless labelstock, incursion into the self-adhesive label market from alternative technologies, and raw material price inflation are still very much a concern, he said.