Delegates at this year\u2019s MagMin2016 were told that there were opportunities for growth for refractories producers in the glass market.<\/p>\n
Delegates at this year\u2019s MagMin 2016 were told that there were opportunities for growth for refractories producers in the glass market.<\/p>\n
Addressing the conference, which this year was held in Dusseldorf, Fabrice Rivet, technical director of the European Container Glass Federation, said that the glass industry was \u00abdoing well despite the economic context (\u2026) and remains a solid industry with good customer prospects\u00bb.<\/p>\n
To produce glass, manufacturers have to fire the raw materials (which include silica sand, soda ash, and borates) in large kilns, lined with refractory bricks that are, on average, replaced every 15 years.<\/p>\n
Trends in the glass industry therefore impact refractory producers.<\/p>\n
In Europe today there are 160 glass manufacturing plants with an average of two furnaces per plant. For now, these are mainly gas-fired plants but Rivet hedged that soon these will be replaced by electric furnaces and furnaces that allow more flexibility.<\/p>\n
Rivet underlined that competition from alternative materials abounds, with developments noted in fluorescent coated glass and VersaFlow \u2013 both new concepts in glass that have developed over the last five years. As well as this, the move towards decarbonisation poses the same challenges for the glass market as it does the refractories market, Rivet noted.<\/p>\n