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Venezuela Nationalizes Guardian Glass Plant

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Venezuela Nationalizes Guardian Glass Plant

Venezuela Nationalizes Guardian Glass Plant

Guardian Industries, one of the largest manufacturers of float glass in the world, announced that the Venezuelan government nationalized its float glass plant in the State of Monagas in July. Following the shutdown, the government invoked a law that allows it to seize abandoned manufacturing facilities. Guardian says that the facility was not abandoned, and that the company had shuttered the facility to replace aging production equipment. Typically, the equipment in glass plants runs around the clock for about 15 years before being shut down for maintenance or replacement.

The Guardian glass plant was not the government’s only seizure target. Kimberly-Clark also lost control of a diaper manufacturing plant in the country. That plant, near Caracas, manufactured nearly half of the diapers sold in Venezuela.

In early August, the Venezuelan government announced that it had “restarted” the Guardian plant, but it is not clear what, if anything, is being manufactured there. The government said it intends to manufacture about 350 tons of flat glass per day. Following the seizure, Guardian issued a warning about the condition of the plant, saying that the existing equipment in the plant was “end-of-life” and that continued use could be dangerous.

Manufacturing is exceptionally difficult in Venezuela at the moment due to the country’s runaway inflation. Kimberly-Clark said it ceased manufacturing at its Caracas-area plant because it could no longer purchase raw materials. Guardian said it shut down its Monagas glass plant as part of a planned upgrade to the equipment there.

Venezuela has a history of seizing the assets of foreign companies since the 1990’s. Extreme economic pressures are contributing to the increasing desperation inside the country. Venezuela is heavily dependent on the sale of oil to fund its national treasury. Since the price of oil has dropped to near-record lows, the country’s economy has spiraled into a deep depression. Widespread unemployment and high inflation have both stripped the shelves of retailers and made importing products next to impossible.

Guardian could petition the World Bank for a judgment in its favor, but even being compensated for the seizure could be meaningless. Owens-Illinois was awarded compensation from the World Bank in 2011 for the loss of two glass manufacturing plants in Venezuela, but has yet to receive any payments. Guardian could also write off the loss, which would take both the asset and the associated expenses (including debt) off of the company’s books.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is a specialized glass coating that bonds permanently to glass surfaces. GlassPrimer also makes a glass surface molecular activator that is designed to work with UV-inkjet glass printing processes. For more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store.

Photo Credit: Julio Cesar Mesa, via Flickr.com

Flat glass prices finally level out

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Flat glass prices finally level out

Flat glass prices finally level out

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index (PPI), the price of flat glass leveled out in July, for the first time in five months. Prices increased just .1% in July and .2% in August, following months of full percentage increases. Overall, the price of flat glass has increased 8% since last year, owing in part to increased demand for glass and relative shortages in raw materials used in the production of glass. In addition, glass intended for new construction must meet higher energy and safety standards.

Flat glass demand increasing for construction, autos

The construction and automotive industries account for the two largest glass consumers. Overall, demand for glass is expected to exceed $130 billion by 2020. Demand is also increasing for specialty coated glasses and photovoltaic glasses. In construction, these glasses are used to decrease energy consumption by controlling both solar heat gain and seasonal energy losses.

Increasingly, the automotive industry is turning to specialized glass to support new safety features. This increased specialization spurred Safelite, the nation’s largest auto glass manufacturer, to announce that it intends to withdraw from the auto glass manufacturing market by October. The company will still provide auto glass replacement services, but will leave manufacturing to smaller, more agile producers.

An 8% increase in the price of glass over a single year does not seem overly dramatic, but since 2008, the price of flat glass has increased 25%-50%. Flat glass prices have increased virtually every month since 2012. The long-term price increase stems from the fact that during the height of the recession, nearly one-third of the nation’s glass manufacturing plants were taken out of service, and were not replaced. The reduction in the number of producers, combined with the increase in demand, has resulted in longer lead times for production and an increases in the price of the product.

Some consumers are looking overseas for additional product, but transportation issues and lead times often make the cost of importing glass a wash.

One alternative to specialized glass may be glass paint. Glassprimer™ glass paint is specially formulated to bond permanently with glass surfaces, and provides superior UV protection. Glass paint can still permit light transmission while controlling solar heat gain, and is available for about $1 per square foot.

If you’d like more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: M.L. Duong, via Flickr.com

PPG Sells Flat Glass Division

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PPG Sells Flat Glass Division

PPG Sells Flat Glass Division

Pittsburgh Plate Glass (PPG) – a historical giant in the glass manufacturing industry – announced last month that it was selling its flat glass division to Vitro, another glass manufacturer in Mexico. The glass division was valued at $750 million at the time of the agreement.

Flat glass didn’t factor into company’s long-term plans

PPG has been a leader in flat glass manufacturing for more than 130 years, but according to company officials, glass was not a strategic part of PPG’s future plans. Selling the glass division was a logical step.

According to officials, the companies had been in discussions regarding the sale of PPG’s glass division for a couple of years, but Vitro lacked the capital to make the purchase. Once Vitro sold its container division, it had enough capital to close the deal.

This is not the first time PPG has sold a major division. In 2008, the company spun off Pittsburgh Glass Works, its automotive business, to an auto parts maker. It also recently announced its planned divesture of its European fiberglass business.

For this sale, PPG wanted to find a buyer that was interested in making glass. According to Vitro, the company intends to keep PPG’s glass facilities and assets intact, and will employ all of PPG’s glass division 1,200 workers in the US and Canada. The sale includes PPG’s facilities in Fresno, CA; Salem, OR; Carlisle, PA; and Wichita Falls, TX, as well as the company’s Research and Development facility in Harmar, PA, and its assets in Canada.

PPG has moved heavily into glass coatings. Approximately 90% of its revenues came from paint and specialty coatings. Following this sale, more than 98% of the company’s revenues will be derived from paint and coatings.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is a specialty paint designed to provide exceptional adhesion to glass and other non-porous surfaces. Glassprimer™ is a leader in glass coating, and the product offers superior UV-resistance for both interior and exterior applications. If you’d like more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Samuel Silva, via Flickr.com

Types of glass and how they’re used

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Types of glass and how they're used

Types of glass and how they’re used

“Glass” is a pretty broad term, but there are dozens of different kinds of glass. How glass is made and what it’s made of determine how the glass looks and what it can do. In this post, we’ll take a look at some of the most common types of glass and what makes them stand out.

Most common types of glass are flat, container

Flat glass. One of the most common types of glass is “flat glass.” This kind of glass may also be called “sheet glass” or “plate glass.” Flat glass is the kind of glass you use in windows. You can also use it in doors and cars, interior walls – really anyplace you need a sheet of glass. Flat glass comes in a variety of thicknesses and can include many materials.

The term “flat” is a little misleading because flat glass isn’t always flat! Flat glass can be shaped or bent after it’s initially produced. This allows “flat” glass to be custom shaped for applications like windshields. Flat glass is the most common kind of glass produced today. It uses the basic glass formula – soda, lime and silica. It’s inexpensive to make, infinitely recyclable, chemically stable and relatively hard, but is soft enough to be scratched by steel. Soda-lime glass is liquid at a temperature of about 1,400-1,600° C. Most glass is recycled; the melting temperature of recycled glass is actually lower than that of newly formed glass.

Today, flat glass is mass-produced by spreading (or floating) flowing molten soda-lime-silica mixture over a molten metal (usually tin) bed. The molten glass “floats” on top of the molten metal bed. The glass can be made thicker or thinner by varying the speed of the rollers that move the molten glass along in the production process. The molten glass flattens uniformly under its own weight, and is slowly cooled (annealed) in the final stages of the manufacturing process. The resulting glass does not need to be polished or ground. It can be cut into smaller sheets, and used in a wide variety of applications.

Container glass. Container glass is a “close cousin” of flat glass. It uses the same basic formula of soda-lime-silica, but it differs slightly in composition. Container glass has higher concentrations of silica, calcium oxide and aluminum oxide, and lower concentrations of magnesium oxide and sodium oxide. This minor variation in formula gives container glass a slight edge over flat glass in chemical durability. These minor differences make container glass a better choice for storing foods and liquids.

Container glass starts out as a molten mixture, just like flat glass does, but instead of floating, container glass is created by blowing or pressing the molten glass, to achieve the desired shape. Container glass is usually much thicker than flat glass and slightly more durable, although not significantly so.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is designed to work with all types of glass. Most commonly, flat glass is used for decorative applications. Flat glass is used to create decorative backsplashes, glass doors, glass walls and glass windows. The minor differences in glass formulation will not change the performance of Glassprimer™ glass paint when it is used on either flat glass or container glass. Beyond flat glass and container glass, there are a number of different types of glass, which we’ll look at in subsequent posts.

For more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .