A recent market report on global flat glass demand by US-based consultancy Freedonia Group, sees a rise of around 5.2%/pa up to 2010, reaching a total of 6,100m sq/m. It is positive news for manufacturers of the key components of flat glass: soda ash, limestone & silica sand. As a result of the growth, the market value of fabricated glass is also expected to reach US$ 57.5M by 2010. Flat glass production, almost 50M/t of which will be high quality float glass, is also expected to exceed 57M/t in 2010. The remaining output will include low quality float glass produced in China & Russia, as well as sheet & rolled glasses. This growing demand will, in turn, require considerable investments in glass manufacturing. Considering the figures to the end of 2005, the world industry is expected to need more than 60 new float glass lines.
