South Korea seized the top supplier spot in Brazilian industrial laminator imports in 2025, with FOB value up 78× to US$ 11 million and 31.8% share.
In 2024, South Korea was the ninth-ranked supplier of industrial laminators and calenders to Brazil — less than 1% of the market, with FOB of US$ 140,000. In 2025, it ranked first, with a 31.8% share and US$ 11 million in value. That is a 78-fold increase in a single annual cycle.
No other supplier made a comparable move over the same period. That points to something beyond opportunistic spot sales: there is a structured procurement decision behind these numbers.
Industrial laminators and calenders — machines used in the processing of paper, textiles, rubber and plastic laminates — have a relatively concentrated import market in Brazil. Before 2025, Germany, Italy and China shared most of the volume. South Korea's leap to the top implies that at least one of those incumbents gave up meaningful share through the year.
Supplier switching in this category does not happen automatically. Laminators are capital equipment with long buying cycles, technical qualification processes and demanding after-sales support requirements. A shift of this magnitude in one year suggests the Brazilian buyer negotiated a large-scale order — possibly for an industrial expansion project or a full production-line upgrade at a packaging or paper-processing facility.
South Korea's machine-building industry has been advancing in precision segments over the past decade. Mid-sized manufacturers have built competitive portfolios in paper and packaging laminators — segments growing in Brazil, anchored by e-commerce expansion and rising demand for sustainable packaging across food and consumer goods supply chains.
Exchange rates also helped. The Korean won faced depreciation pressure against the dollar through 2025, reducing USD acquisition costs for the Brazilian buyer. Combined with export financing conditions that the South Korean government typically provides through KEXIM — the country's official export-import bank — the competitive edge may have been decisive in closing the final negotiation with the Brazilian purchaser.
For Brazilian industries that operate laminators — papermakers, packaging producers, textile mills and plastic laminate factories — South Korea's emergence as the dominant supplier introduces a new price and lead-time benchmark. This repositioning may pressure other suppliers to revise their terms in the next purchasing cycles.
Parts availability and technical support are the next critical variables to assess. If the Korean manufacturer has a local presence or a certified partner in Brazil, the supply relationship will likely consolidate into long-term contracts. If that structure is absent, the total cost of ownership could erode the initial acquisition advantage — and reopen the door for European suppliers to return in the next cycle.
U.S. wooden sleeper near-monopoly: Brazil's railway blind spot
Concentration Risk
Singapore vaults to #1 in Brazil's valve exports through April
Exports
Brazilian vinyl polymers to Colombia multiply 9x over two years
Colombia
Brazil's egg exports to the US jump roughly 1,000-fold through April
Agribusiness
Brazilian pharma imports from China jump +608% in the period
Anomaly