Mid-August, a float furnace at the Vitro Architectural Glass plant in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, unexpectedly went down when a glass leak caused a fire at the facility. Vitro officials have yet to make an official statement on the extent of the furnace’s damage and estimated downtime. However, the unexpected loss of float capacity has prompted fresh concerns over float supply in North America. The incident in Carlisle comes on the heels of recent outages at other North American float plants. In the last six months, two additional float production furnaces have unexpectedly gone offline. “It is hard to believe how many manufacturing plants have gone down,” said a representative from a leading North American glass fabricator. “We are still trying to put things together to secure inventory for the next few months. All I can say at this point is that it’s going to get worse.”The unexpected loss of capacity comes during a time of already tight supply. Concerns over glass shortages in North America have been bubbling since the construction industry recovery ramped up post-recession. Float capacity in North America fell more than 20% between 2005 and 2015, with the number of working lines falling from 44 to 34, prompting worries over increasing lead times and difficulty ordering certain products. Losing several lines on top of those existing closures only exacerbates capacity challenges, sources say.
