The latest manufacturing data of BV Glass shows that despite the decline in sales in the first half of 2020, economic indicators show that various industries have begun to improve.

In the first half of 2020, the total sales of the German glass industry was approximately 4.7 billion euros, a 4.1% decrease from the same period last year (4.9 billion euros in the first half of 2019). Domestic and foreign sales fell by 5.7% and 1.8%, respectively. The most difficult industry was flat glass manufacturing, where sales fell 15% to 454 million euros (534 million euros in 2019). Flat glass is an important supplier in the automotive industry. After being severely affected by the stagnation of the automotive industry, the flat glass refinery also suffered losses: the overall performance was 1.74 billion euros, a decrease of 6.7% (2019: 1.87 billion euros). However, the current business cycle index shows that the flat glass industry has begun to rebound.

Affected by the poor economic situation of commercial glass manufacturers, the double-glazed market for container glass and beverage glass has also declined, with sales of 1.28 billion euros, a decline of 2.1% (2019: 1.31 billion euros). On the contrary, the output value of the glass container industry increased by 8.5%, thanks to the shift of households to beverage and food consumption.

Pharmaceutical glass manufacturers have positive expectations for their business, and manufacturers are preparing to produce millions of glass containers to meet the demand for the new crown vaccine.

Glass fiber and specialty glass manufacturers have also increased their sales in the first half of 2020. The glass fiber industry is very stable, with sales of 504 million euros, an increase of 0.9% (500 million euros in 2019), but this is true for the specialty glass industry. Sales were 729 million euros, an increase of 5.1% (2019: 694 million euros).

Dr. Frank Heinricht, President of BV-Glass, said: The glass industry is recovering from the crisis and is much better than expected. What is particularly gratifying is that the departments that have been hit hard by the crisis have achieved good results, and the current situation is better than expected. Expectations for the industry in many fields have risen again, and we are very optimistic about the second half of 2020. "