Flat glass is integral to the construction of most buildings and transport vehicles, and is an important component for some appliances and furnishings. The United Kingdom flat glass manufacturing market produces float, rolled, drawn and blown flat glass sheets that are sold to downstream industries for further fabrication or to end users in the building market. The wide variety of uses for glass has made it an important input in many other industries. The two most significant downstream industries for flat glass manufacturers are construction and automobile manufacturing. As both of these industries are highly cyclical, flat glass manufacturers have not performed particularly well over the five years through 2013-14. Over the period, revenue is estimated to grow at a compound annual rate of just 1.1%. In the current year, it is projected to fall by 4.8% to £316 million. This has been the result of construction and automobile manufacturing activity declining after the onset of recession in 2008-09. Both markets have largely stagnated since, except when construction briefly rebounded in 2009-10. The domestic industry is dominated by three global players in the glass products industry: Pilkington, Guardian Industries and Saint-Gobain Glass. Together, these three companies make over 95% of the flat glass manufactured in the United Kingdom. The high levels of capital investment needed to enter the market prevent further competitors from entering the industry. The industry is expected to regain consistent growth as the UK economy undergoes a tentative recovery, and conditions in the construction and automobile industries improve. This is anticipated to help the Flat Glass Manufacturing industry's revenue grow at a compound annual rate of 3.6% over the five years through 2018-19. This will take total revenue to £378 million. Although revenue is projected to contract by 0.6% in 2014-15, the industry is expected to recover in line with the economy in general thereafter, assuming no further exogenous macroeconomic shocks. - See more at: news.wooeb.com/1484900/c54/#sthash.ECVn57mi.dpuf
