Ceylon Glass Company Ltd., Sri Lanka's sole manufacturer of container glass, is in the unenviable position of having to survive in a small, very fragmented market that demands a wide range of products and often, incredibly small production runs, while coping with rising energy costs. The capacity of the company, a subsidiary of India's Gujarat Glass, is 120 tonnes of container glass/day. By way of comparison, Indian capacity is close to 15 times this. Its parent, Gujarat, can manufacture six million bottles/day. "The market is extremely fragmented," said Rajiv Prasad, Director of Ceylon Glass, so small runs, as small as 5,000 bottles are needed - unlike in other markets where production runs can be as long as a week. The whole game is about volumes - we need economies of scale," he said. "We have more capacity than the market."
