Saint-Gobain controls half of float glass market
Autor:
Catalin Lupoaie
07.04.2009
French giant Saint-Gobain, with annual turnover worth 44.8bn euros, which has so far invested 130m euros in a glass plant in Calarasi, only two years after finalising the plant got to control around half of the float glass market and states it is set to make further investments on the domestic market on the long term.
Saint-Gobain, a major global producer of construction materials, last year reached investments worth around 220m euros on the Romanian market, with the biggest investments being aimed at Saint-Gobain Glass. The Calarasi plant, opened in February 2007, is one of the biggest greenfield investments domestically after the nineties.
The Romanian float glass market last year went beyond 100m euros, according to some market information.
The Calarasi plant has a production capacity of above 230,000 tonnes of glass per year and holds a coater with a production capacity of 10 million square metres.
Saint-Gobain Glass, the group's main company in Romania, exports around half of its Romanian glass production to countries such as Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Greece or Turkey, as well as to Egypt or Lebanon. The French group holds nine firms domestically exporting around 30% of Romanian production.
"The group's target to be a regional leader implicitly involved massive exports from Romanian production facilities. These production centres were from the very beginning meant to serve markets in the entire SE Europe, beside the Romanian market," explains Ovidiu Pascutiu, commercial manager with Saint-Gobain glass for SE Europe.
Saint-Gobain Glass could start a new investment in the Calarasi plant in a laminated glass production line worth some 10m euros.
Saint-Gobain's long-term expansion plans include building of a construction abrasive plant in Turda, expanding the plant in Calarasi and the plasterboard production facility in Turda.