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| Glass Bottles in Production |
The glass industry in the United States is a major sector in the U.S. economy that is undergoing some fundamental changes. To better understand these changes, it is important to know the structure of the glass industry even if the information is ten years old. The charts below show the glass industry in 2002.
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| 2002 Glass Statistics |
The glass industry was fueled by oil in the 1970's and was hit very hard by the tenfold increase in oil prices. This forced glass companies to switch to natural gas to fuel their glass production. As a result, many companies ceased production rather than invest in the new equipment. As the chart above shows, energy is a major component of the cost in the production of glass. New environmental regulations required companies to invest in equipment and procedures to meet the regulations. Despite the increased foreign competition, some glass companies were able to compete with increased efficiency and new manufacturing methods.
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| 2002 Statistics |
Flat glass or float glass, as it is called because of the manufacturing process, is produced for the construction and automotive industry. In fact, 80 percent of the flat glass market in the U.S. goes to those two markets, as the above chart shows. This business has faced increased competition from foreign competitors with cheaper labor costs. The number of flat glass manufacturers has been reduced to four.
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| 2002 Statistics |
Container glass is another sector of the glass industry that has serious problems in addition to the increase in oil prices. Increased competition from foreign competitors with cheaper labor costs has reduced the number of U.S. manufacturers significantly. Competition from other materials like plastics and lightweight metals has also reduced the container market share enjoyed by glass. Many products like milk, soft drinks, beer, and food products. As we have discovered on this trip, many glass firms in the industrial market like container glass, have gone out of business.
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| Fiberglass Insulation |
Fiberglass is an important category in the glass industry that is actually further divided into two segments, insulation and textile fibers. Fiberglass, like flat glass, is subject to the the economic cycles of the construction and automobile industry. Unlike flat glass, fiberglass has little foreign competition because the binders that hold the fibers together cannot be compressed for shipment.
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| Fiberglass Stadium Structure |
The last major category in the glass industry is a diverse segment called specialty glass. This can include cookware, optical glass, stained glass, laboratory glass, flat screen displays, and LCD panels.
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| Specialty Glass Panels |
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| Stained Glass |
The specialty glass segment now outperforms the other segments of the industry. Specialty glass requires more investment in research than other glass segments because of rapid changes in the market. The most profitable products today did not exist ten years ago, particularly in the high-tech electronics industry.
Research Questions
- What pollution problems did environmental regulations address in the 1970's?
- How much recycled glass is used in each segment of the glass industry?
- How has energy efficiency changed in the glass industry from 1970 to now?
References
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