Dr Stephen Cray, technology leader, pressure sensitive industries, Dow Silicones UK, said, “In India, there’s a trend to use less refined papers, which are more porous and cheaper. These papers need coatings that are less viscous. We are launching a new product Syl-Off 351. It reduces soak-in for porous substrates, allowing producers to realise cost gains through less expensive paper and fewer silicones.”

Talking about the global release liner market, Meike Wesseling, global segment leader, functional coatings, Dow Silicones, Belgium, said, “The global release liner market is very attractive. About 50% of it finds applications in labels and it is seeing a strong growth. The Asian region covers 40% of the market and India is the third biggest driver after China and Japan.”

Wesseling highlighted that there are three key areas that drive innovation: sustainability, cost and new emerging applications. As the line speeds go up, the costs will come down for laminators as well as printer converters. Higher converting speeds require faster release profiles from the release coatings. The innovation drive is towards catering to faster line speeds and low platinum levels, added Dr Cray.