Thermal Transfer Label Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

• The Thermal Transfer Label Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.86% during the forecast period 2021-2026. The COVID-19 outbreak is impacting demand for thermal transfer labels with supply chains disruption and nationwide lockdowns. Increased focus on the availability of essential services and goods during these periods has resulted in downsized demand for printing products and papers. The mature thermal transfer technology that produces images using heat on a heat-sensitive substrate primarily serves the retail market, mainly for catchweight food labeling.
• It offers ease and reliability of use for short-life applications and delivers low-cost quality barcodes at reasonable print speeds. These characteristics make thermal transfer technology a choice for transit product identification and tracking labels, for example, for parcel distribution, as well as for outer case and pallet markings.
• Silver Polyester thermal transfer labels and white polyester thermal transfer labels are witnessing high adoption in long-term outdoor durable labels, chemical drum labels, post-solder circuit board making, and part tracking labels.
• Furthermore, mounting demand for medicines and vaccines in the healthcare industry has also facilitated adoption of thermal transfer labels. They are seen as the best choice for printing information on various products within the food & beverages, healthcare, retail label, tracking and transportation industries.
• This technology is yet to be studied further for mass production and extended use in the market, Problems such as Insufficient print contrast signal, poor scanning read rates and dead spota on barcodes have created some challeges for the market.

Key Market Trends

Healthcare is Expected to Register Significant Growth Rate

• Labeling the product of healthcare is very vital, as it contains various types of information pertaining to drugs, their usage, lifetime, formulation, and lot number, among others. Drug labeling is governed by stringent norms and regulations by the respective governments.
• Many labeling players, such as UPM Raflatac and CCL Industries, among others, are providing Labeling for healthcare products. For instance, UPM Raflatac is offering Labeling for small volume containers, such as syringes, ampoules, IV bottles, cartridges, pens, vials, and test tubes by robust label adhesives that can be used on any glass or plastic container, while luminescent adhesive options are the perfect solution for detecting missing labels with a detection inspection system.
• Moreover, companies are investing in research and development activities to diversify their product portfolio. For instance, in May 2021, BIXOLON America Inc., a leading global Mobile, Label, and POS Printer manufacturer announced today the launch of its NEW RFID label printers line-up, the XD5-40tR which is a thermal transfer desktop label printer to deal with various types of low and high volume labelling applications such as healthcare.

North America will hold the Significant Market Share during the forecast period

• The label manufacturers in the United States experience most of the demand from the food and beverage segments. According to estimates, the food and beverage segment accounts for more than half of the labels used in the North American region.
• According to FDA, packaged & processed food items must have nutritional labeling that makes labeling important. The Food Safety Modernization Act mandates Consumer packaged goods to be able to, at minimum, identify the immediate supplier & recipient (other than retailers to consumers) of a product to monitor the path of their products.
• Thermal Transfer Polyester is the best-preferred label material that is used in the market. Companies such as FLEXcon produces supercalendered kraft release liner made from up to 30% post-consumer waste (PCW). Its THERMLfilm NEXgen line of durable label substrates with several features for UL-compliant labeling applications, including compatibility with many conventional print methods, including UV and emulsion, and TTR printability.
• In the ongoing crisis due to pandemics in North America, there has been a rapid rise of demand for medical equipment, medicines, and vaccines that have made the label market more sophisticated and increased the adoption of thermal transfer labels as its time to market is much lesser as compared to other forms of labels.

Competitive Landscape

The Thermal Transfer Label market is highly competitive and consists of a significant number of global and regional players. These players account for a considerable share in the market and focus on expanding their client base across the globe. These players focus on the research and development activities, strategic alliances, and other organic & inorganic growth strategies to stay in the market landscape over the forecast period.

• March 2021 -Mactac has expanded its Lintec labelstock portfolio with retro-reflective films designed for warehouse applications and industrial labeling, enabling long-range barcode scanning. The films are constructed from a polyester material embedded with glass beads that enable long-range barcode scanning from up to 50 ft distance. Retro-reflective films feature long-term indoor durability and up to two years of outdoor durability.

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