With crude oil at record prices, recently breaking the $50 barrier, Pilkington has announced that its Building Products division is to introduce an energy surcharge on glass products sold in Europe The surcharge is as a result of increasing energy costs & came into effect 1 Nov/04. Flat glass is an energy intensive industry & in common with many other UK-based companies, Pilkington has been affected by the increasing oil/gas prices brought about mainly by continued tension in the Middle East & Russia, & increasing global demand, particularly in China. The energy surcharge will be implemented on each standard load of flat glass (usually 18-30 tonnes) that Pilkington supplies to its EU customers. Smaller deliveries will be surcharged in proportion. To make the process fair, the price will be directly linked to the price of a barrel of Brent crude.
