Glass & Glass Product Manufacturing Industry Profile

Companies in this industry manufacture glass and glass products, including glass containers, flat glass, fiberglass, and specialty glass products. Major companies include Corning, Guardian Industries, Owens-Illinois, and PPG Industries (all based in the US) as well as Asahi Glass (Japan), Compagnie de Saint-Gobain (France), Jiangsu Farun Group (China), and SCHOTT (Germany).

The global glass industry generates about $75 billion in annual revenue. Top exporters include Belgium, China, France, Germany, Japan, and the US.

The US glass and glass product manufacturing industry includes about 1,500 companies with combined annual revenue of $22 billion and is expected to see moderate growth over the next two years. Key growth drivers include rising demand in the developing world for flat glass, and increasing demand for energy-efficient glass in mature markets.

Most companies in the industry manufacture products from bulk glass bought from a handful of primary glass manufacturers. Production of optical fiber from glass is included in the industry; use of that fiber to produce fiber optic cable is not.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand comes mainly from the construction, auto, bottling, and container industries. The profitability of individual companies depends on low-cost operations, because most products are commodities that are bought based on price. Large manufacturers have large efficiencies of scale in operations, which is why the industry is so concentrated. Small manufacturers can compete effectively by producing specialty products or serving a local market. The ...