Industry Facts and Figures

Flat glass is the material that goes into a variety of end-products such as windows and façades for buildings, windscreens and windows for transports, solar panels, but also in much lower quantities in many other applications such as furniture, electronics, etc.

Flat glass is the second largest sector of the glass industry in the European Union after container glass (bottles, jars, etc.). Flat glass represents around 30% of the total glass production. The sectors covers the production of float glass and rolled glass. Nowadays in the European Union, 97% of the flat glass is produced by means of the float process.

Production capacity and demand

In 2008, the sector reached a production capacity of 12.7 million tonnes of float glass from the 58 float tanks operating in the European Union and employed approximately 17,000 people in the manufacture of flat glass. On average, flat glass output annual growth is in the order of 2-3%.

Float installations are located across 16 countries of the European Union but three quarters of the EU production originates from Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the UK, Spain and Poland.

However, demand for flat glass is particularly sensitive to economic cycles because of its high dependency on the building and automotive industries. During period of economic growth and high demand for flat glass, the annual growth is around 3% whereas during economic downturns or recessions the flat glass sector is hardly hit, as it is the case at the moment.

The economics of the flat glass sector

A float plant is highly capital intensive, typically costing around  €70 million to €200 million depening on size, location and product complexity. Once operational, a float glass furnace is designed to operate continuously, 365 days per year, throughout its life of between 15 and  18 years. Float lines are normally capable of several “lifetimes” following major (€30 million to €50 million) repair or upgrade programmes.

The economics of the continuous-flow float operation require a high capacity utilisation rate – typically above 70% – before a plant becomes profitable. Energy and raw material costs are significant. Glass is relatively heavy, making distribution costs significant; they typically represent around 10% to 15% of total costs.

In most cases, transport costs make it uneconomic for float glass to travel long distances by land. Typically, 200 km would be seen as the norm, and 600 km as the economic limit for most products, though this varies between markets. It is possible for float glass to be economically transported along longer distances by sea provided additional road transportation is not required at both ends. This tends to favour float lines with local port access unless a local market is available for the line’s output. This is the reason why the vast majority of glass produced at the EU borders such as in Algeria, Egypt, Ukraine, etc. can be easily transported and sold in the European Union.

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