Glass & Glass Product Manufacturing Industry Overview

Excerpt from Glass & Glass Product Manufacturing Report

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).

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 industry is highly concentrated: the 50 largest companies account for more than 80 percent of revenue.

Products, Operations & Technology

Specialty products (glassware, lenses, mirrors, optical fiber) account for more than 60 percent of industry revenue, containers for about 25 percent, and flat glass for about 15 percent.