On the road to recovery

The ‘developing’ markets of India and China were to a large extent insulated from the worst effects of the global crisis by high (if reduced) levels of domestic demand, and are now showing the highest rates of global growth in all label categories.

In Latin America, converters are buying equipment at the top end of the market, as was demonstrated at Labelexpo Americas exhibition in Chicago in September. The regional forecast is for up to 5 percent compound growth up to 2014, which should continue to drive capital investment.

The US and European economies were badly hit by the global downturn and are slowly clawing back lost ground. Although Eastern Europe saw its label industry growth rates knocked back in 2008-9, the region is moving back towards more robust growth figures. Central and Western European growth is being driven by the German economy, and although uncertainty remains over the economic frailty of some Euro-zone economies, a return to growth is predicted.

The US economy had returned to growth figures of around 2 percent by Q3 2010 with confidence slowly seeping back into the economy, and this was again reflected at Labelexpo Americas where press manufacturers in particular reported strong interest in capital investment from US converters. For a more detailed look at all these trends, see the reports by our global team of editors in the 2011 Yearbook.

From myself and all the L&L team, we wish you a successful year and hope to see you at the two Labelexpo shows in 2011 in Brussels and Shanghai.