18 February 1999: The National Glass Manufacturing Company of Saudi Arabia (Zujaj) incurred a rise in loss, by SR 34.3 million in 1998, a 145% increase over the preceding year. According to a financia…
18 February 1999: The National Glass Manufacturing Company of Saudi Arabia (Zujaj) incurred a rise in loss, by SR 34.3 million in 1998, a 145% increase over the preceding year. According to a financial report of the company, it had incurred a loss of SR 14 million in 1997, after making a profit of SR15.8 million in 1996 when it began production. Sources at Zujaj attributed the reasons for the loss as the decrease in the demand and the simultaneous increase in supply of glass from new players in the market. A glass manufacturing expert in the Gulf said in a report that almost all other glass manufacturing factories in the region have also been passing through a difficult phase. The companies have, so far, not disclosed details of their performance. The Gulf glass manufacturing industry has reportedly witnessed the emergence of several new producers during the last two years, including Mahmoud Saeed factory in Jabal Ali, Al-Tajer factory in Dubai and Majan factory in Amman. The GCC countries produce an estimated 500,000 tons of glass items annually. Saudi Arabia“s total annual production of glass amounts to 100,000 tons which is 20% of the total GCC production.