The flat glass market - France

1.2 The global market: growth driven by construction and Asia as the largest market

The global flat glass market was estimated to be worth $***.* billion in **** and, prior to the Covid-** epidemic, was forecast to grow at a CAGR (***) of *.*% from **** to **** to reach $***.* billion by ****. While these figures are now overestimated, they are indicative of the positive market direction that is expected to continue over the long term.

Global flat glass market size France, ****-*****, US$ billion Source: ****

The growth of the global flat glass market is driven by the increase in demand from the construction sector, which is the largest market for the sector. The demand from the construction industry was the fastest growing segment in **** and this trend is expected to continue. Flat glass is widely used for applications such as windows, partitions and facades. The product is particularly popular with those designing commercial building facades due to its aesthetic appeal.

In addition, the development of solar energy, which requires the use of flat glass for the manufacture of photovoltaic panels, is also a major driver of the growth of the flat glass market.

Asia Pacific dominated the market in ****, in terms of volume, with a market share of **.*%. The region accounts for the largest share of the global construction industry, with ...

1.3 The French market: growth interrupted in 2019

The flat glass industry is registered under the following two NAF codes: **.**Z: Manufacture of flat glass **.**Z: Shaping and processing of flat glass The figures below were obtained from these codes in several steps. Insee provides the pre-tax sales figures for each of the segments for the years **** to ****. [***] Insee also provides the sales indices in base *** in **** of the two segments for the years **** to ****, which makes it possible to calculate the sales figures for **** to ****. The formula used is as follows: Turnover for year n = turnover for year **** x turnover index for year n / ***. Therefore, this formula allows us to obtain the turnover of the two segments. The sum of the turnover of the two market segments gives the total turnover of the flat glass market. The French flat glass market was worth €*.** billion in **** and experienced an uninterrupted rise from **** to **** and then a decline of *.*% in ****. French flat glass market size France, ****-****, in billion euros Source: ****

The market can be broken down into two activities: flat glass manufacturing on the one hand and flat glass shaping and processing on the other. Both segments grew from **** to **** and then declined slightly in ****. While flat glass manufacturers ...

1.4 International trade: a trade deficit

The data of this part are obtained on the site of the French Customs from the following codes:

**** : Flat glass **** : Flat glass, worked

The coverage rate measures the economic independence of a country for a given product and is calculated by the formula: value of exports / value of imports x ***.

The coverage rate of France on the flat glass market was **.*%, which means that the trade balance is in deficit on this market.

Imports

Imports of flat glass, raw and worked combined, amounted to €*.*** billion in ****, down from ****. The evolution of imports seems to follow the general trend of the flat glass market, with an increase until **** and then a decline in ****. The year **** will mark a decline, especially since the Covid-** epidemic has largely penalized market growth.

Imports of raw and processed flat glass France, ****-****, in billion euros Source: ****

Country of origin of French flat glass imports France, ****, as % of total Source: ****

Exports

France to exported €***.* million of flat glass in ****, a slight decrease from ****. Like imports, exports were held back by the Covid-** epidemic, and the decline that began in **** was reinforced in ****.

Exports of raw and processed flat glass France, ****-****, in millions of euros Source: ...

1.5 The effect of Covid-19: drop in revenues and reorientation of activity

At the peak of the crisis, the drop in sales in April **** compared to April **** was - **.*% for flat glass manufacturers. The decline was even greater for the flat glass shaping and processing activity, which reached - **.*% in April **** compared to April ****. However, it appears that the turnover generated by the shaping and processing of flat glass has returned to its pre-crisis level more quickly than that generated by the manufacture of flat glass.

Index of sales from flat glass manufacturing (***) France, ****-****, base *** in **** Source: ****

  Turnover index for the shaping and processing of flat glass (***) France, ****-****, base *** in **** Source: Insee This drop in sales is explained by two main effects of the Covid-** epidemic. Firstly, the shutdown of plant activity during the containment period led to a market paralysis for several weeks, the effect of which was all the more significant as plants in this industry require a certain amount of time to restart. In addition, the flat glass market's dependence on customer markets, particularly the construction and automotive industries, was a determining factor. As activity in these two markets has declined significantly, the demand for flat glass has decreased. [***]

While this decline in activity has created considerable ...

2.1 Demand mainly from the construction and automotive industries

Flat glass can be used to make many different products. Once manufactured, the raw plate glass leaving the plants is shaped and processed to make a variety of products, such as windows, railings, vehicle windshields, mirrors, verandas, vehicle roofs, display cases, and even glass-ceramic plates.

The graph below describes the distribution of European flat glass demand among customer markets. Although the data is not dated, it is indicative of the main markets for flat glass manufacturing, namely the construction and automotive industries.

The most important end market for flat glass is the construction sector, which uses about **% of the flat glass consumed in Europe. About **% is processed into glazing for the automotive and transport industries. The remaining *% is shared between many different applications such as solar applications, household appliances (***), electronics, furniture, etc.

Distribution of flat glass use by outlet Europe, ****, in % Source: ****

2.2 A favorable but worsening construction market

The construction market is relatively well oriented in Europe and in France. The year **** marked an economic recovery that has been confirmed in recent years. Production growth is particularly driven by non-residential building construction and maintenance-renovation activity, which are the most dynamic segments.

The chart below highlights the upward trend in housing starts since ****, particularly residential buildings. In ****, **.* million square meters of non-residential buildings were started, compared to **.* million square meters in ****. Housing starts increased in **** and then declined slightly to ***,**** units started in ****.

Change in housing starts France, ****-****, in millions of square meters and in thousands Source: Insee and FFB government website The construction market has therefore been dynamic since its recovery in ****, but its growth is tending to slow. The sector's annual growth rate has been divided by * each year between **** and ****, falling from *.*% in **** to *.*% in **** and then to *.*% in ****. However, the construction market remains strong, particularly the maintenance-renovation segment, which is benefiting from the increase in sales of older homes. This trend is stimulating demand for glazing and therefore the flat glass market. While the building market has been relatively buoyant in recent years, the slowdown in growth already underway since **** coupled with the Coivd-** crisis ...

2.3 Customer markets: the decline in automobile production and the positive effect of the energy transition

The automotive industry is not doing well

The automotive industry is the second-largest market for flat glass. This is because transport equipment manufacturers and car manufacturers use flat glass in particular to produce windshield and side window glazing, as well as mirrors.

In ****, automotive industry production declined in Europe and France for the first time since ****. Manufacturers have in fact lost significant market share, particularly to China, due to their technological backwardness. In particular, the new WLTP anti-pollution standards destabilized automakers at the end of ****, led to delivery delays and caused European registrations to fall. In addition, global trade tensions, particularly between China and the United States, penalized export performance. [***]

In France, sustained domestic demand has limited the decline in production, but this is expected to continue into ****, negatively impacting demand for flat glass.

Average annual production in the automotive industry France, ****-****, base *** in **** Source: ****

Manufacturing of other transport equipment dynamic

In contrast, the market for the manufacture of other transport equipment is well oriented, with uninterrupted growth since ****. The manufacture of other transport equipment refers to the construction of boats and ships, the manufacture of railway rolling stock and locomotives, the manufacture of aircraft and spacecraft and the manufacture ...

2.4 Google Trends : Une saisonnalité de la demande ?

Une saisonnalité de la demande

Note : Le graphique ci-dessus représente la proportion de recherches portant sur un mot clé donné dans un pays donné et pour une période spécifique, par rapport au moment où le taux d’utilisation de ce mot clé a été le plus élevé (***). Ainsi, une valeur de ** signifie que le mot de clé a été utilisé deux fois moins sur la période, et une valeur de * signifie que les données pour ce mot clé sont insuffisantes.

Google Trends : Evolution de l'intérêt pour le verre plat entre **** et **** France, ****-**** Source: ****

Mis à part un pic en début de l'année ****, et un pic en Octobre ****, on ne peut pas vraiment parler de saisonnalité de la demande. Celle-ci a l'air davantage de s'étaler sur l'année de manière homogène. Les débuts et les fins d'années semblent toutefois recueillir plus de recherches que la moyenne, à l'instar de début **** et la fin de l'année ****.

3.1 Value chain of the industry: between suppliers, manufacturers and distributors

As illustrated below, the flat glass industry is divided into three stages before distribution of the finished product:

Suppliers of industrial sand as well as suppliers of recycled glass (***) supply raw materials to manufacturers of raw flat glass, who may also be involved in manufacturing processed glass. The raw flat glass, cut into pieces, is supplied to the glass shaping and processing specialists, who then shape the glass according to their orders and specifications. The final products are then transported to the manufacturers' sales subsidiaries or to the traders, in order to ensure the final distribution to the industrial customers: specialists in building joinery, equipment manufacturers of transport equipment or furniture manufacturers.

3.2 French flat glass production: raw flat glass up, processed flat glass down in 2019

Flat glass is mainly produced by float glass, which is the modern flat glass manufacturing process and represents the main part of flat glass production. However, two other manufacturing processes exist, namely drawing and laminating. Float glass, the main production process for flat glass, is explained by Saint-Gobain as follows Currently, float glass, resulting from floatation, became the standard in the ****s. This technique involves pouring a ribbon of molten glass from the furnace and floating it on a bath of molten tin to produce a perfectly flat, defect-free surface of uniform thickness and viscosity. The line measures *** meters in total. It all starts in the composing room. Four raw materials are used to make glass: sand, soda, lime and cullet. While the exact composition of flat glass varies depending on the type of glass, the most common composition is soda-lime-silica glass, which is described in the chart below. Composition of soda-lime-silica flat glass France, ****, in % Source: Verre online These raw materials are then melted in a furnace at **** degrees to remove all bubbles and impurities. The molten glass from the furnace flows onto the surface of a molten tin bath under a controlled atmosphere. The glass spreads over the tin, ...

3.3 The raw flat glass market is more concentrated than the processed flat glass market

While the raw flat glass manufacturing market is highly concentrated in France, with only ** establishments in ****, the flat glass forming and processing market is more atomized, with *** players in ****. Furthermore, both segments of the flat glass market have experienced a concentration of activity that has manifested itself in a reduction in the number of companies. Indeed, in France, ** companies manufactured flat glass in **** compared to ** in ****. Some of these companies are also involved in the shaping and transformation of flat glass. Number of establishments and employees in flat glass manufacturing France, ****-****, in units Source: Acoss Similarly, the number of flat glass processing players has fallen from *** in **** to *** in ****. Number of flat glass processing establishments France, ****-****, in units Source: Acoss   In total, the flat glass market has therefore fallen from *** players in **** to *** players in ****, which is indicative of a concentration of the sector in recent years. The high concentration that characterizes flat glass manufacturing has led to agreements between players. For example, in November ****, four major players in the sector (***) and would have led to a gradual increase in prices charged by these players. [***] If the data are relatively dated, the graph below illustrates the strong concentration of ...

3.4 Flat glass valorisation: still limited, the recycling sector is developing

Flat glass waste from the construction industry is recycled. The main method of recovery of flat glass is recycling. After being recycled, flat glass waste can be found in partitions, joinery, sanitary equipment, mirrors and curtain walls. Flat glass waste is listed under waste code ******.

On November *, ****, the Ministries of Ecology and Economy, as well as industry professionals, signed a Commitment for Green Growth, with a view to developing the recycling sector for flat glass from deconstruction and renovation. Indeed, while the deposit of flat glass to be recycled reaches *** *** tons, the rate of recovery of flat glass does not exceed *%. [***]

The manufacturers are committed to achieving the goal of **,*** tons of flat glass recovered by ****, and **,*** tons by ****. Thus, in ****, the tonnages of flat glass collected recorded an increase of **%.[***]

As illustrated below, flat glass waste collectors recover the waste, which is then broken down by dismantlers. The material to be recycled is extracted, namely cullet, and then recovered by glass manufacturers.

Source: ****

Not all flat glass waste is suitable for recycling. The table below indicates which waste is accepted or refused.

In addition, in order to develop the sector, the Federec (***) has published a map of collection and grouping ...

4.1 Type of products

The glass used today as a construction material is called soda-lime glass because of its composition. In addition to the production of raw flat glass reserved for a small category of players (***), the shaping and transformation of glass allows the production of a multitude of different products for all types of sectors.

The descriptions of the NAF codes for the flat glass industry provide information on the different types of flat glass.

Source: ****

Other types of flat glass exist, often because of particular applications that make them suitable for specific industries.

In particular, many so-called "intelligent" glasses have emerged in recent years, characterized by variable and controllable photometric properties. We can distinguish :

liquid crystal glass, which is a laminated glass capable of alternating opacity and transparency photochromic glass whose properties change according to UV radiation thermochromic glass which changes color according to temperature electrochromic glass that changes color according to the electric field

Other types of glass have appeared in recent years, including the following:

heated glass, which is used in particular in the building industry and in household appliances (***) self-cleaning glass

The flat glass market is regularly marked by new innovations. In particular, insulating glass with a very low U-value ...

4.2 Flat glass prices

The production prices of raw flat glass and processed flat glass have followed a similar pattern in recent years, with an upward trend interrupted by the Covid-** epidemic. The Covid-** epidemic led to a decrease in raw flat glass prices and a stagnation in processed flat glass prices.

Production price index France, ****-****, base *** in **** Source: ****

Import price index for raw flat glass France, ****-****, base *** in **** Source: ****

5. Regulation

European standard EN ***

The standards and rules governing the use of flat glass in the building sector are detailed here.

In particular, as indicated by the Afnor, the European standard EN ***, dated February *, ****, establishes dimensional and qualitative requirements (***) that apply to float glass as defined in EN ***-*:****, for use in construction.

In particular, an irregularity of appearance of the glazing is considered to be an irregularity of appearance of the glazing that is likely to interfere with an observer looking at the external environment through the glazing.[***]

Thermal regulation **** modified in ****

Windows must be made of double or triple glazing and have effective lateral insulation.

In addition, in ****, the rule of */* of glazed surface introduced by the RT **** has been lightened. Before January *, ****, for any building subject to RT****, the sum of the surfaces of the openings (***) measured in the table had to be greater than */* of the living area.

Since ****, exceptions exist:

For narrow buildings where the available facade area is less than half of the living area and buildings where the average living area of the dwellings is less than ** m², the surface area of the windows and doors must not exceed */* of the living area. For narrow ...

6. Segmentation of actors

• Saint-Gobain Groupe
• AGC
• Riou Glass Groupe
• Devglass
• Focomirrors (Ficosa Group)
• SMR Automotive
• Glas Trösch
• Caloriver
• Vitage Isolant Technique VIT
• Verrissima Group
• SunPartner Technologies
• PPG Industries
• Guardian Industries
• Coprover
• Cevino Glass