An adhesive tape refers to a continuous flexible strip made of metal foil, cloth, plastic film, or paper coated with a thin layer of permanent glutinous adhesive on one or both sides. Such tapes are available in the form of sheets or rolls of various sizes and are popularly known as tapes, sticky tapes, self-sticking tapes, and pressure-sensitive tapes. These tapes are increasingly being used for packing and binding the products related to the e-commerce, healthcare, and food and beverage industries.
In recent years, several countries have restricted the usage of hazardous chemicals required in the manufacturing of adhesive products. Stringent government norms to limit the use of harmful chemicals have compelled tapes manufacturers to focus on the production of eco-friendly products such as water-activated tapes. These environment-friendly tapes are produced by using biodegradable polymers, which are derived from the polymerization of bio-based raw materials. The development of such recyclable tapes has boosted the production capacity and customer base of adhesive tapes manufacturing companies.
In the coming years, market players such as Nitto Denko Corporation, Shurtape Technologies LLC, 3M Company, Nichiban Co. Ltd., LINTEC Corporation, tesa SE, Avery Dennison Corporation, Lohmann GmbH & Co. KG, Intertape Polymer Group Inc., and Scapa Group plc will focus on the production of specialty tapes. This will be because of the surging requirement for these tapes in the automotive, electrical and electronics, construction and building, and healthcare industries, across various regions.
The aforementioned companies offer water-based, hot-melt-based, and solvent-based adhesive tapes for various end-users. In recent years, the sales of water-based tapes exceeded the sales of solvent-based and hot-melt-based tapes, owing to their cost-effectiveness and eco-friendly nature. Moreover, the rising regulatory support for eco-friendly adhesive tapes will also fuel the usage of water-based tapes in the foreseeable future. These tapes are mostly used for packaging in almost every end-use industry. Moreover, the soaring popularity of online shopping in emerging economies will augment the consumption of adhesive tapes for retail e-commerce packaging.
Geographically, Asia-Pacific (APAC) adopted the highest quantity of adhesive tapes in the recent past, and it is expected to register the fastest growth in the adhesive tapes market in the foreseeable future. This can be ascribed to the surging use of these tapes in China and India, owing to the continuous research and development (R&D) and improvements in the automotive, healthcare, and electronics industries of these countries. Besides, the easy availability of cheap labor and low cost of raw materials have also fueled the production of adhesive tapes in the region.
Thus, the rising utilization of tapes with adhesive properties in the automobile industry and increasing implementation of government regulations regarding eco-friendly tapes will propel the production of adhesive tapes in the coming years.
