Romania produced glass worth EUR 300 million in 2007 and a rise of 7% is estimated for 2008, said Maria Danciulescu, the executive director of Sticef, the glass and ceramics industry employers organiz…
Romania produced glass worth EUR 300 million in 2007 and a rise of 7% is estimated for 2008, said Maria Danciulescu, the executive director of Sticef, the glass and ceramics industry employers organization. Ms. Danciulescu said that production will increase thanks to the opening of an up-to-date thermopane glass factory in Buzau (south-east). In addition, in June 2008, a section equipped with state of the art technology for safety bent glass production started operation. Some 150 producers are active on the profile market in Romania. The most important are Saint-Gobain, Stirom Bucharest and Gerom Buzau. The profile sector imports only auxiliary products and very few raw materials, such as sand for fine glassware, decorative materials and packaging, Ms. Danciulescu said. At present, Stirom has a 30-45% share of the local glass bottle market, while imported products from the Republic of Moldova, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Hungary make up 55%. Some 15% of the company“s turnover comes from imports, oriented towards glassware, and approximately 10% is represented by exports. The glass packaging market could rise in 2008 by 5-6% thanks to higher beer sales, from a volume of 225,000-230,000 tonnes in 2007 worth EUR 90 million, according to Stirom representatives. Gerom Buzau announced it will invest EUR 50 million to build a new glass bottle factory, returning to this segment after the suspension of production in 1990.