FINAT Radar #20: the label market continues to experience unforeseen challenges
It is my pleasure to present to you the second edition of the FINAT RADAR in 2023. A special edition, not only because it is the 20th in our series, but also because it is the first converter edition prepared by our new partners Alexander Watson Associates AWA. At the end of Q1 you already received a first report prepared by AWA containing an extract of their so-called ‘data transcripts’, combining research to assess the state of play in vertical end-user markets with a review of the evolution of relevant raw materials markets.
This edition is the first ‘home bred’ report in the new, quarterly format, based on primary data obtained from FINAT and national association converter members. It comes at the start of the second half of a critical year, after a prolonged period of increasing market volatility and descending general economic indicators. In this climate of uncertainty, FINAT has therefore decided to delay the publication of this edition till after the quarter, in order to ensure maximum actuality of data.
The delay has enabled AWA to obtain an even higher number of respondents to the European label converter survey that was circulated among converter members of FINAT and the national label associations. But it also allows us to coincide the publication of the report with the release of a separate study commissioned by FINAT in conjunction with the European Label Forum held last month in Vienna. This study, titled ‘New Technology and Future Expectations | Investing in Times of Disruption’, aims to assess the drivers and expectations for machine investment in these times of disruption. Like the FINAT RADAR #20, this report can be downloaded exclusively by FINAT members and other survey participants from the FINAT Members-only website.
This foreword is drafted in extra time of the first half of 2023, at the end of a hectic 12-month cycle. It comes at the beginning of an era that will reveal whether or not we have seen the end of the de-stocking period and will resume our journey on the path of resilience, or whether recessionary tendencies will persist to influence the business outlook for our final consumers and ourselves.
As you read in the recent interview with our President Philippe Voet (if you haven’t yet, please click this link), there are a series of critical longer term drivers at play. We trust that those among the record attendance at our recent European Label Forum in Vienna have found comfort and inspiration in the collective power of FINAT as a networking, knowledge and collaboration platform. A comprehensive report with the takeaways of the ELF 2023 will be shared soon.
As we are entering a well-deserved break, the countdown has started to Labelexpo Europe, the first major show for this industry in Europe since 2019. As a proud partner of the show and its hosts Tarsus (now Informa), we look forward to seeing you there in September! (Visit us at our stand Hall 11/A31)