Glass Industry
Will Liquid Glass Change Everything?
Liquid glass will be available in retail outlets in Great Britain sometime this year. Spray bottles of liquid glass will sell for about eight American dollars or five British pounds. A surface treated by liquid glass would last a year before needing to be re-sprayed.
Veeco Awarded $4M In R&D Matching Funds From DOE Solid State Lighting Manufacturing Grant
Veeco Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq: VECO) announced today that it has been awarded $4 million in R&D matching funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by the U.S. Department of Energy to support high-efficiency solid state lighting projects. Solid state lighting, which uses light emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic LEDs (OLEDs) has the potential to be ten times more energy-efficient than traditional incandescent light bulbs.In total the Department of Energy awarded more than $37 million in funding for solid state lighting programs. Veeco's proposal was one of eight selected as part of U.S. Manufacturing FOA DE-FOA-0000057, projects focused on achieving significant cost reductions and enhancing quality through improvements in SSL manufacturing equipment, processes or monitoring techniques. Projects address the technical challenges that must be overcome before prices fall to a level where solid state lighting will be competitive with existing lighting on a first-cost basis. The total value of manufacturing selections is $23.5 million; the performers will provide an average of 51% as cost-share.
Source: GlassOnWeb
Innovative Techniques For Module Production
A large part of manufacturing for photovoltaic modules incorporates handling and processing glass. Bystronic glass makes a significant contribution in all areas to ensure that the systems run smoothly and effectively.
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The German-Swiss company is entirely at home processing glass: For more than 40 years it has been recognized for providing innovative machines, systems and services in glass processing. From basic components to automated, customer-specific complete solutions, Bystronic glass offers extraordinary concepts with unsurpassed quality – and the same applies to the Solar Industry.
Cleanly ground edges of substrates are absolutely essential to ensure a smooth production process for solar modules. High edge quality free from cracks and shell defects is the only way to prevent glass breakage during the process. This is an important pre-condition for efficient and economical production since glass breakage is a relevant cost factor and always means a stoppage of the system. Whenever glass breakage occurs, the production systems must be run empty and cleaned.
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Guardian Glass Covers the Burj Dubai - The Tallest Building in the World
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Dubai has made headlines in recent weeks for its financial woes, and many are saying this once-booming desert metropolis has gone bust. But the emirate does have something to celebrate: The Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, is due to officially open on January 4. Precisely how many feet this superlative tower rises into the sky remains a mystery. “The final height is still being guarded closely,” says George Efstathiou, FAIA, managing partner in charge of the project at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. “We’re bound to keep it a secret.” The skyscraper is widely believed to be 2,684 feet tall, but recent changes to the way the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat measures building height complicates such estimates. Still, regardless of final calculations, the Burj Dubai will rise considerably higher than Taiwan’s 1,667-foot-tall Taipei 101, which opened in 2004 and has held the record for the world’s tallest building in terms of “height to architectural top.” Situated in the city center, the roughly 160-story Burj Dubai will consist primarily of luxury apartments, office space, and an Armani Hotel. Encompassing more than 3 million square feet above grade, with an additional 2 million square feet below, the tower was built with some 327,000 cubic yards of concrete and 35,700 metric tons of rebar. At the peak of design activity, SOM had a team of 100 employees dedicated to the project in its Chicago office, along with a handful in Dubai. The tower was originally scheduled to be completed in 2008, but developer Emaar pushed the date back several times in response to height modifications, construction worker strikes, and changes to interior finishes. “The obstacles were nothing more than normal” for a supertall tower, Efstathiou reports, noting that in terms of structure, the building was on solid footing from the beginning due to its Y-shaped base. He adds that although the tower will formally open in January, “polishing” work will continue for a few months. Efstathiou says his team’s excitement has escalated in recent months, as the building nears completion. But he adds, “There’s also some sadness that this journey we’ve been on for over six years is now coming to an end.”
Source: GlassOnWeb
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Bystronic Glass Is Building The World Largest Glass Handling Device
For some years now, the trend in glass lite production seems to be moving in only one direction: Dimensions are increasing dramatically according to latest recorded statistics from Gersthofen in Bavaria , Germany . At an unbelievable 13.30 x 3.10 meters, Sedak is producing what is probably the largest glass lites in the world at this time, from laminated safety glass. But production is one matter and handling the glass is another. Until recently, there were still not any vacuum suction pads capable of working with lites of this dimension.
The main specialty of Sedak GmbH & Co. KG, which belongs to the Seele Group, is laminated glass with high-quality design. In addition to glass/glass and glass/metal laminates, the company also processes photo sheets and extremely small laminates as small as 50 x 50 mm.
Recently Sedak GmbH & Co. KG was commissioned to produce lites with record dimensions of 13.30 x 3.10 metres for the external façade of an internationally renowned company. Laminating these lites presented no problem, but until that time Sedak had no handling equipment capable of moving the heavy lites, which weigh several tons, reliably and precisely.
For this reason, an order was placed with the Bystronic glass Technology Center in Armatec for the world's largest handling device ever to be built. The company with headquarters in Gunzenhausen is considered the indisputable expert in constructing handling equipment and has also made a name for itself in the past producing production lines for laminated safety glass, crane systems, and special machines.
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The Glasmaxilift 5000 - able to handle lites up to 15 meters in length and 5 metric tons with no problem
New Joint Venture A Step Closer To Delivering One Of Middle East's First Over-the-Fence Gas Supplies
Air Products is to ship a cold box, key equipment for an air separation
unit (ASU), to reach the port of Abu Dhabi at the end of February 2008.
This shipment is the main stage of a project by the joint venture
between the Abdullah Hashim Group (AHG) and Air Products to build,
operate and maintain a new ASU and a hydrogen production facility for
Emirates Float Glass Company (EFG) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The new plant will be the first over-the-fence gas supply in the
Industrial City of Abu Dhabi, and one of the first in the Middle East.
The newly set-up UAE joint venture between Air Products and Abdullah
Hashim Group combines Air Products' technology and the regional
know-how and experience of the Abdullah Hashim Group, and will deliver
projects following Air Products' globally recognized standards for
operation and maintenance.
The cold box is the core element of an ASU and enables the air to be
cooled so that it can be separated into different gases. The cold box
and other cryogenic equipment are being manufactured at Air Products'
facility in Acrefair, North Wales, UK.
"We are very excited to bring this project one step closer," explains
Richard Boocock, vice president, Tonnage Gases, Equipment & Energy,
Air Products Europe & Middle East. "We bring extensive worldwide
experience in designing, constructing and operating ASUs, and will
provide globally proven in-house nitrogen cryogenic distillation
technology. Our partner, AHG, has unrivalled Middle East project
management expertise and extensive liquid gases back-up capabilities in
the gulf region."
"Our joint venture enables us to offer the highest standards of nitrogen and hydrogen supply safety, reliability, product purity and power efficiency," adds Khalid Hashim, managing director of AHG.
Air Products has operated a helium and cylinder gases filling and
distribution facility in the Jebel Ali Free Zone in UAE since 1990, and
strengthened its presence in the Middle East with the opening of its
office in Doha, Qatar last year.
"With leading positions in the Middle East in key markets such as LNG,
GTL and refineries, we are now looking at expanding our presence in new
sectors -- and this new contract illustrates that our core skills can
be applied in many different industries," said Boocock.
"We are proud to be part of a project of such strategic importance to both Emirates Float Glass Company and the United Arab Emirates' industrial development. This project supports the growing high demand from the construction market in the UAE," adds Hashim.
Source: GlassOnWeb
Vitro Signs An Agreement With FIDE To Implement Programs For Energy Savings
For the purpose of making all of the industrial facilities of Vitro in the country more energy efficient through the reduction in the amount of greenhouse emissions, the company today signed an agreement with the Electric Energy Savings Mexican Commission (FIDE).
The document specifies that Vitro, in addition to developing energy savings programs, will conduct massive awareness programs on the subject, will promote the substitution of high energy consuming equipment for more energy efficient ones and will expand the technical training of its affiliates on the subject of energy efficiency in all of its installations in Mexico.
For its part FIDE will promote energy savings programs within Vitro’s manufacturing facilities, to workers and suppliers and will help finance the purchase of high energy efficient equipment.
The agreement, which becomes effective today, was signed by Enrique Osorio, Chief Financial Officer and Alejandro Sánchez Mújica, Executive Vice-President Legal and General Council, on behalf of Vitro and by Pablo Realpozo Del Castillo, General Director of FIDE and José Luis Hernández Galán, Assistant Director for Regional Projects and Development of the same organization.
Referring to the agreement, Enrique Osorio commented that “during the
current year we will be conducting energy diagnostics on which we will
base the action plans that will allow us to achieve the desired energy
savings in our plants. Nevertheless, in this first stage we are
expecting to be able to achieve energy savings in the range of 3% to
5%”.
He added that the projects undertaken in the Vitro manufacturing plants
may include energy diagnostics and the replacement of inefficient
equipment with more energy efficient ones, which will be financed by
FIDE at preferential rates that will be paid on the basis of the
realized energy savings.
Mena Glass To Build State-of-the-Art Float Glass Plant
MENA Glass, through its fully owned subsidiary Sphinx Glass, signed a €97 million agreement on Thursday, January 3, 2008, with Italian contractor Ianua SPA for the engineering, plant construction, assembly and supervision of a new greenfield float glass manufacturing facility. MENA Glass is a company established by Citadel and a group of leading regional investors to pursue investments in the promising MENA glass industry, with an initial capital of US$ 120 million.
Sphinx Glass' greenfield plant will be located in Sadat City, some 70 kilometers north of Cairo, and has licensed world-class production technologies from PPG Industries Inc., a global market leader in high-quality float glass. The 220,000 square-meter state-of-the-art factory will have a production capacity of 600 tons of glass per day and will sell to both the local and export markets, splitting its initial production evenly between the two. According to Sphinx Glass Board Member Ms. Marianne Ghali, "The new plant will be producing the highest quality clear, colored and reflective float glass for use in both the automotive and construction industries."
The plant will have the capability to produce glass with thicknesses varying between 2mm and 19mm. Eng. Tarek Salah, Managing Director of Projects at expects the factory to create 200 new jobs when it becomes operational; in addition, he says, "The construction phase, which will begin immediately and should be completed within 24 months, will employ some 2,000 workers."
Mr. Hisham El-Khazindar, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Citadel, noted, "This greenfield investment by MENA Glass, coming shortly after its US$ 70 million investment in Misr Glass Manufacturing (MGM), a leading manufacturer and exporter of glass containers, reflects Citadel CapitalCitadel CapitalCitadel Capital 's strong belief in Egypt's competitive advantage in the glass industry. We aim to develop MENA Glass into the leading regional glass producer."
Source: GlassOnWeb
PPG Completes Acquisition Of SigmaKalon Group
PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) today announced that it had completed the acquisition of SigmaKalon Group, a worldwide coatings producer based in Uithoorn, Netherlands, from global private investment firm Bain Capital. The total transaction value, including assumed debt, was approximately €2.2 billion (US$3.2 billion). The company expects to add approximately $3 billion in sales annually as a result of the acquisition."This acquisition is strongly aligned with our vision and core strategies," said Charles E. Bunch, chairman and chief executive officer of PPG. "With SigmaKalon, we are accelerating our transformation to focus on coatings and specialty products."
Bunch noted that almost three-quarters of the company's sales from continuing operations will now come from coatings, and over 80 percent will come from its coatings, optical and specialty products businesses.
Kiwi Ingenuity Leads To Novel Glass Recycling
Mountains of glass are consumed by New Zealand every year, amounting to more than 200,000 tonnes.
Most of what is recycled is melted down to make more bottles, but the rest is popping up in places you would least expect.
Excess glass is already being crushed for use in tiles, roading and construction.
Now a Christchurch company has found it has the perfect substitute for
sand at golf courses, using it as a top-dressing on the greens and in
the bunkers.
“What we’re using here is not the finest quality that we have, but the
weight is good and it doesn’t blow away so it works well in the golf
courses,” Ian Hay from TerraNova told 3 News.
Experts say it is better to play from than some natural sands and with
some sands becoming difficult to source, glass is proving to be a good
alternative.
Sandihurst Vineyard has been trialling crushed glass as a mulch under
its vines which has been producing good results. Researchers say glass
may prove to be as good a tool for growing grapes as bottling them.
Until now, the cost of transportation has made it uneconomic for small
towns to recycle glass, especially in the South Island. But now there
is a mobile crusher that can come to them.
The crusher is the only one of its kind in the country and can get through 12 tonnes of glass in one hour.
But with New Zealanders getting through a lot more empties than that, there is still more bottles that we know what to do with.
Source: GlassOnWeb
Schott: Observatory Inside A Jumbo Jet
A flying telescope will be forging ahead to the limits of the Earth's atmosphere. From here, astronomers hope to gain a clear view of the universe."Beyond the clouds...", the view must be boundless - Astrophysicists perhaps had this popular German chanson in mind when they came up with the idea of building a large telescope that weighs tons into a jumbo jet. The joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has been named SOFIA, which stands for Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy. The objective is to obtain an unclouded view of the stars and galaxies in aerial heights.
Many of the device's components have already been installed and are now being tested. This also applies to the "heart" of the flying observatory, a large, round mirror substrate made of Zerodur® glass ceramic from SCHOTT. With its 2.7 meter diameter, it is even larger than the Hubble Space Telescope. However, with a weight of 850 kilograms, the mirror brings only a fraction of the weight of the passengers that the former commercial aircraft used to hold onto the scale.
Platinum Equity to Terminate Agreement to Purchase PPG's Auto Glass Businesses
PPG Industries was notified that affiliates of Platinum Equity, Beverly
Hills, Calif., intend to terminate, after December 31, 2007, their
contract under which they agreed to purchase PPG's automotive original
equipment manufacture (OEM) glass and automotive replacement (ARG)
glass and services businesses. In addition, PPG confirmed that
Platinum's affiliates filed suit in the Supreme Court of the State of
New York, County of New York, alleging that the Platinum group is not
obligated to consummate the agreement. While PPG does not comment on
the specifics of litigation, the company stated that it intends to
vigorously enforce its rights under its agreements with the Platinum
group.
PPG also said that, in the event the transaction does not close with
the Platinum group, it will continue to explore divestiture,
restructuring and other strategic alternatives for the automotive OEM
and replacement glass and services businesses with the goal of
maximizing shareholder value.
The automotive OEM glass business unit supplies windshields, rear and
side windows, sunroofs and assemblies for auto and truck manufacturers.
The ARG and services business unit supplies and distributes replacement
automotive glass products for use in the aftermarket. It also provides
insurance claim services through its LYNX Services subsidiary, glass
management software through its GTS Services subsidiary, and e-business
solutions through its GLAXIS subsidiary.
The two automotive glass businesses manufacture and fabricate products
in nine North American plants located in Berea, Ky.; Creighton,
Meadville and Tipton, Pa.; Crestline, Ohio; Evansville, Ind.; Evart,
Mich.; and Hawkesbury and Oshawa, Ont., Canada. In addition, there are
nine satellite parts assembly plants, and there are LYNX Services
claims management centers in Fort Myers, Fla., and Paducah, Ky.
Combined, the businesses employ approximately 4,400 people.
Source: GlassOnWeb
Apogee Extends Architectural Product Offerings With Purchase Of Tubelite Inc.
Apogee Enterprises, Inc. announced that it has purchased 100 percent
of the stock of Michigan-based Tubelite Inc., which fabricates
aluminum storefront, entrance and curtainwall products for the U.S.
commercial construction industry, for approximately $44 million (plus
or minus closing adjustments). Apogee provides distinctive value-added
glass solutions for the architectural and picture framing industries.
"The purchase of Tubelite, with annual revenues of approximately $60
million, is part of Apogee's strategy to grow its presence in
architectural markets," said Russell Huffer, Apogee chairman and chief
executive officer. "Tubelite brings a new, high-quality product line
to Apogee -- storefront and entrance products. The market for
storefront and entrance products, which are part of every commercial
construction project, is estimated to be more than $1 billion.
These products are usually purchased and installed by the same glazing
subcontractor that installs curtainwall and windows, two core product
lines currently offered by Apogee companies.
"We expect the Tubelite business, which has operating margins
consistent with our architectural segment, to be accretive to Apogee's
earnings in fiscal 2009," said Huffer. "We are pleased that the current
Tubelite management team, with its extensive industry expertise and
experience, will continue with Apogee to lead Tubelite to even greater
levels of performance."
"We're pleased to be joining a financially-strong, market leader that
we've known for a long time," said Ken Werbowy, Tubelite president.
"For many years, we've worked closely with Apogee's Linetec company,
which applies paint and anodized finishes to Tubelite's extrusions,
and are happy to be securing our relationship with a finisher known
for quality services and quick lead times.
"We're excited to become a member of Apogee's portfolio of
architectural companies, which are also known for their leading
brands, quality products and on-time services," said Werbowy. "We look
forward to working with the other Apogee architectural businesses to
further strengthen and grow our market position." Apogee funded the
acquisition from its existing revolving credit facility.
Source: GlassOnWeb
Ancient Egyptian Glassmaking Recreated
A team led by a Cardiff University archaeologist has reconstructed a
3,000-year-old glass furnace, showing that Ancient Egyptian glassmaking
methods were much more advanced than previously thought.
Dr Paul Nicholson, of the University's School of History and
Archaeology, is leader of an Egypt Exploration Society team working on
the earliest fully excavated glassmaking site in the world. The site,
at Amarna, on the banks of the Nile, dates back to the reign of
Akhanaten (1352 - 1336 B.C.), just a few years before the rule of
Tutankhamun.
It was previously thought that the Ancient Egyptians may have imported
their glass from the Near East at around this time. However, the
excavation team believes the evidence from Amarna shows they were
making it themselves, possibly in a single stage operation. Dr
Nicholson and his colleague Dr Caroline Jackson of Sheffield University
demonstrated this was possible, using local sand to produce a glass
ingot from their own experimental reconstruction of a furnace near the
site.
The team have also discovered that the glassworks was part of an
industrial complex which involved a number of other high temperature
manufacturing processes. The site also contained a potter's workshop
and facilities for making blue pigment and faience - a material used in
amulets and architectural inlays. The site was near one of the main
temples at Amarna and may have been used to produce materials in state
buildings.
Dr Nicholson, who has been working at Amarna since 1983, said: "It has
been argued that the Egyptians imported their glass and worked it into
the artefacts that have been discovered from this time. I believe there
is now enough evidence to show that skilled craftsmen could make their
own glass and were probably involved in a range of other manufacturing
industries as well."
Source: GlassOnWeb
V-Kool Window Film Debuts Customer Referral Reward Program
V-Kool, Inc., North American distributor of heat-blocking,
energy-saving applied window film for commercial and residential
applications, announced a referral reward program that will pay recent
customers 5% of the installed price of actual sales they refer to the
company. The referral reward for installing V-Kool in a typical home is
about $125. On larger homes or businesses it would be more. There is no
limit on the number of referrals.
"Talking about going green is good. Paying to go green is better," said
Marty Watts, V'Kool's President and CEO. "We know the fastest, most
effective way to save energy, slow-down global warming and reduce
dependence on foreign oil is to make doing so profitable, so we are
offering cash rewards to customers who can help us sell more
energy-conserving V-Kool film."
Typically, 25%-35% of the energy used in buildings and homes is wasted
due to inefficient glass windows and doors that in the US are
responsible for >10% of the annual carbon emissions that contribute
to global warming. Every installation of heat-blocking V-Kool window
film helps protect the environment.
Clear, colorless V-Kool applied film reduces solar heat and ultraviolet
radiation without significantly decreasing visible light or changing
the appearance of existing glass. In addition to reducing air
conditioning operation cost, V-Kool window film enhances the many
benefits of day lighting, and by decreasing heat, may improve indoor
air quality while reducing the need to upgrade air conditioning
systems.
V-Kool has been installed in thousands of homes and on the campus of
Stanford University and in such landmark buildings as the former
headquarters of Montgomery Ward in Chicago and the American Institute
of Architects' building in Washington, DC.
Source: GlassOnWeb
SolarGlas AG Builds The First Float Glass Furnace 100% Dedicated To The Production Of Solar Glass
The growth of the solar markets, both PV and thermal, create a shortage
of ultra-white (low iron) glass. Munich based SolarGlas AG starts to
build a specialised float glass plant for the production of solar
glass to serve this market. After an extensive site selection process
the decision was taken for Forst in the federal state of Brandenburg,
Germany, because of the vicinity to a large portion of German solar
module manufacturers, the great commitment of the municipality with
its mayor J. Goldschmidt and the support by the federal state of
Brandenburg with its federal agency "ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg".
The furnace will have a daily capacity of up to 500 tons, which equals
an annual production capacity of around 15 - 18 million square meters.
The furnace concept brings together innovative technologies for the
first time: a so-called "dual-furnace" for the production of
structured cast glass for conventional silicon modules and also float
glass for thin film and solar thermal applications. Another world
novelty is the operation of the furnace with an oxygen-gas mixture.
This saves about 25% of energy and reduces the emissions by about 50%.
Therefore, this furnace will produce solar glass in the most
environmentally friendly way for the application in "green" products.
Technology partners of SolarGlas AG are the expert engineering company
DTEC in Gelsenkirchen as well as other well reputed German companies
with huge experience in the glass industry. The oxygen supply as well
as the special know-how for the burner technology is provided by Linde
Group.
Süddeutsche Leasing GmbH in Ulm, which is specialised in finance
leasing of large industrial production lines, backs the funding.
SolarGlas AG invests more than 60 million Euro. This amount includes
all up- and downstream production steps as well as already planned
future additions. The investment creates about 120 new jobs in an
otherwise economically underdeveloped area. First glass output is
scheduled for June 2009. At the moment, first talks for long-term
delivery contracts are being held and first deals are under
preparation.
Source: GlassOnWeb
3 New Float Glass Lines - Glass Investment Of 145 Million Euros And 180 Million USD In Egypt By 2008
In View of the strong growth trends in Middle Eastern markets, Egypt is expected to become the region's leading glass supplier.
3 new float lines will be built in Egypt by 2008, 2009 to serve rapidly
growing demand for float glass from Middle East & Africa countries.
According to a report by the Egyptian ministry of Trade & Industry,
Eng. Rashid Mohamed Rashid, the minister of trade & Industry has
witnessed the sign of the agreement of one of the biggest factory of
new float glass line production. This investment is to be operated in a
joint-venture between Saint Gobain's Flat Glass and MMID. The new float
line facility will be built in Ain El Sokhna, located 120 kilometers
east of Cairo and 40 kilometers south of Suez, along the Red Sea coast,
on total area 700.000m2. The overall volume of the investment will be
120 million Euros. Construction is due to start in 2008 and production
in 2009.
As will as, 2 others float glass lines are scheduled to begin the
construction from the end of 2007& production will start in the
beginning of 2009; first float glass line will be owned and operated by
Yemeni investor "The Egyptian Engineering Co. "with total volume of
investment of 180 million USD, located at the Industrial zone of 10 th
of Ramadan and the second float glass line will be owned and operated
by Egyptian Co. "Trust Group " with a volume of investment of 25
million Euros which will be the setting up in Ismailia.
Output from the 3 new facilities will be sold on the Egyptian market and also exported to the Middle East and Africa countries.
With the 3 new float lines, Egypt float glass capacity by 2009 will
increase to 1600 tonnes daily with a combined daily production capacity
of 400 tonnes. Therefore, the glass processing sector is expected to
increase significantly and with it will grow demand for toughening
lines, cutting and edging machines and so on.
Source: GlassOnWeb
DuPont: Water-Glass Villa In Japan
A Water/Glass villa overlooking the Pacific ocean on a bluff high above the Atami coast has won first prize in the Residential section of the 1997 DuPont Benedictus Awards for innovation in laminated glass for architect Kengo Kuma of Kengo Kuma & Associates, Tokyo.
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The glass villa, which is a guest house for a neighboring villa designed by architect Bruno Taut, is a construction over water of three all-glass pods linked by glass bridges and reached by a glass staircase - all constructed of laminated glass for safety reasons.
The floor of the uppermost, third level is covered with a 15 centimeter-deep layer of water, upon which have been positioned three glass boxes. Stainless steel louvers roof the whole water-covered section, so that the entire structure is built on two horizontal frames: the water level and the louvers with the intervening glass working as a filter.
According to architect Kengo Kuma, the villa is a type of experimental sight line installation, a facility which incorporates a variety of architectural and natural elements.
Flat Glass Cartel and Guidelines on Non-Horizontal Mergers
Neelie Kroes
European Commissioner for Competition Policy
Introductory remarks at press conference
Brussels, 28th November 2007
Good morning ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to talk to you today concerning an antitrust decision just adopted by the Commission.
The Commission has uncovered and punished an international cartel that fixed the prices of flat glass, which is used in the manufacture of glass products such as double glazing and safety glass. The cartel involved:
Asahi of Japan,
Guardian of the US,
Pilkington of the UK and
Saint-Gobain of France.
The Commission has established that in 2004 and 2005 representatives of these companies met covertly at hotels and restaurants around Europe. At these meetings they conspired to increase prices for flat glass, discussing both the amount and the timing of price increases.
The companies profited from selling flat glass at artificially inflated prices. The direct victims were the buyers of the flat glass, companies who made products such as double-glazing and safety glass. But the final victims were once again European consumers, who had to pay the price for the glass used in buildings, private homes and apartments.
The flat glass market was worth about one thousand seven hundred million euros in 2004. So the companies, and their shareholders, will have done very well out of this cartel. Until today.
CSG Automotive Glass Was Bought By Xinyi
XINYI announced it has bought the China Southern Glass (CSG) Automotive Glass Division. XINYI is a leading automotive glass, float glass, architectural glass and solar glass manufacturer in china, the 100% shares deal was done by a payment of 237million HK dollar from XINYI. After the transaction, Shenzhen CSG Automotive Glass will be the subsidiary of XINYI.
This transaction enables XINYI to enlarge its scale of automotive glass business, further strengthens XINYI's leading position in the global automotive glass market based on the outstanding achievement in export. The new CSG Automotive Glass will also benefit from this deal for enhancing massive production and reducing its procurement cost, the effectiveness and profit will be greatly increased.
XINYI will believes that through this strong-to-strong combination, the customers and business partners will also share the benefits from it, they will get better quality products and thoughtful services. Since this transaction, XINYI will be able to provide the customers much more various products and go deeper in both domestic and overseas market, thus to hold in hand the continuous competitive advantage in automotive glass industry.
About this transaction, XINYI's high rank officer tells the reporters that from the date of 1st of Nov.2007, XINYI will take over the Shenzhen CSG Automotive Glass Division, and promises that The company body will have no change, the business models and contracts will keep effective, the managing board and the main sales people will also keep in their position, even the business activities won't have much adjustment, the new company will keep on as before and better than before to provide the customers good quality products and services.
Source: Xinyi Glass
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