In his opening speech and presentation, Corey Reardon, president and CEO, AWA Alexander Watson Associates shared the finding of the recent study published by AWA on global release Liner Market. Touching upon the various findings of the study, Reardon noted that the global market by region in 2012 stood at 37,500mn Euros. “Of these, Europe and North America equally command 31% of the total pie, closely followed by Asia (29%), South America (5%) and Africa and Middle East (4%),” he said. He also added that glassine/calendared substrates control around 40% of the substrate market.

“In Asia, around 34% of the market in Asia is enjoyed by Polyolefin coated paper, followed by glassine. In contrast to the trend, glassine paper is growing at a double rate compared to SEK in markets like India. Currently, we do not see clay coated papers (CCP) as substituting glassine paper,” he added. 

Laufenberg, manufacturers of silicone coated paper, films and speciality papers explain the difference between glassine and SEK as follows: Glassine paper grade encompasses the highest degree of density and offers an optimal surface for a consistent silicone coating. Besides good coating capability, Glassine is manufactured within narrow caliper calibration tolerances and provides good die-cutting performance. Due to its low absorption level, thin and consistent silicone coatings can be applied. Especially for double sided liners within narrow release differentials, glassine offers considerable advantages in comparison to other paper carriers. Though also super calandered, this liner is less densified in comparison to a glassine paper. Reverse side roughness as well as caliper of a SCK liner is significantly higher, if compared with a glassine.

Polyolefins are thermoplastic resins polymerized from petroleum-based gases. The two principal gases

are ethylene and propylene. Ethylene is the raw material for making polyethylene (PE) and ethylene copolymer resins and propylene is the main ingredient for making polypropylene (PP) and propylene copolymer resins. In extrusion coating, resin is melted and formed into thin hot film, which is coated onto a moving, flat substrate such as paper, paperboard, metal toil or plastic film. The coated substrate then passes between a set of counter rotating rolls that press the coating onto the substrate to ensure complete contact and adhesion.  Substrates that can be coated with polyolefins include paper, paperboard biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP), biaxially-oriented nylon (BON), polyester and other plastic films, metal foil, fabrics and glass fiber mat.

Before concluding his presentation, Reardon shared that Asia is growing at over 6% year on year while South America and Africa and Middle East are closely behind with South America, Africa and Middle East. He added that, filmic substrates form only 15% of the total substrate market of labels.