It has been a difficult year for glass-bottle manufacturer O-I, which lost two plants in Venezuela to a government takeover in October & has struggled as the recession hit the demand for beer & other products. However, CEO Al Stroucken is confident the company's fast expansion into markets such as Asia & Latin America will lead to increased profitability & record sales. "The growth of glass containers was clearly going to be influenced by those regions much more than the growth in the traditional regions in which we have been established," said Stroucken. O-I aims at reaching worldwide sales of US$ 9BN in 2012, compared to US$ 7.1BN in 2009. Working to reach that target, the company has made 10 international deals in 2010, including the acquisition of 4 glass plants in China, the formation of a JV with Thailand's Berli Jucker Public Co. Ltd. in May, followed by the acquisition of Brazilian glassmaker Companhia Industrial de Vidros in September. And, according to Stroucken, O-I has a "significant" pipeline of mergers & acquisitions planned worldwide. Right now, about 70% of the company's profits come from outside N America. And now, said Stroucken, with limited room for growth in the N American & western EU markets, the company is pushing forward with a globalization strategy that O-I has concentrated on since he took charge in 2006. "I think we are seeing already some very considerable benefits from that decision," he said.
