There are reports from all over Europe of shortages of materials and severe delays in deliveries and all this is putting a strain on printers and label manufacturers in particular. In fact, to further burden the situation of adhesive label manufacturers is the lack of glassine, or the siliconized support, on which the labels are distributed. Glassine is one of the three layers of which self-adhesive paper is made, namely: paper, adhesive, glassine. The latter protects the adhesive and ensures that it can be detached and then reattached to the product.
The lack of this fundamental support is due to the state of strike that has been affecting the Finnish company Upm since the beginning of the year, one of the largest paper mills in the world, which alone produces about 40% of the world paper market, in particular than the adhesive one. To date, production has stopped; we hope that it will be resolved soon. The block led to significant delays, if not cancellations, in supplies.
The self-adhesive label represents a fundamental part of the supply chain; if the label and packaging sector were to stop, many other sectors would also be involved in a cascade. Packaging is a strategic element in the global market because it allows the finished, packaged and protected product to arrive at the points of sale, as well as with the information necessary for the consumer. For this reason, the repercussions of a stop in the label sector could be very serious, as it would cause the blocking of other production chains.