Europe's $28bn glass act rolls towards $34bn by 2003
15 Jan 2000
The European glass industry's need to compete with low-cost imports will lead to rationalisation and take-overs, according to market researchers Frost & Sullivan. But the situation isn't hopeless - the ease of recycling glass into windows, containers and reinforced plastics means that glass has good prospects compared with other, less easily recycle materials, particularly plastics.
The industry has already seen much rationalisation over the past decade, says Frost & Sullivan; the 13 largest manufacturers account for 90 per cent of the industry's turnover, according to a new report predicting the state of the industry up to 2003.
The contraction trend is likely to continue, as larger manufacturers benefit from the economies of scale offered by high-capacity furnaces and automation.
Rationalisation can only reach a certain point, however. `In the flat glass market, representing a 24.6 per cent share of overall revenues in 1996, this trend my be approaching a limit - some countries already have only one flat glass manufacturer,' says F&S research manager Angela Gunning.
Despite this, the market for glass will continue its steady growth, driven by increasing population and technical innovations. Worth some $28billion in 1996, the industry's turnover should reach $34billion by 2003, the report says.
