The glass bottle market - France (2024)

1.2 Global market

The global glass bottle market, estimated at $**.* billion in ****, is expected to register a CAGR of *.*% over the period **** - ****, reaching $** billion in ** years' time.

Sales projections for the global glass bottle market World, **** - ****, in $ billions Source: ****

Glass bottles are safer for your health, as there is no risk of chemical contamination of the contents, unlike plastic bottles. Glass also preserves the taste of food and beverages. What's more, glass can be recycled ad infinitum, unlike plastic, which is considered waste after three recycling cycles. As a result, glass bottles offer a number of advantages that appeal to different sectors, including the pharmaceutical industry, which is attracted by the strength and durability of these containers.

With the current emphasis on "healthy" lifestyles, more and more consumers are buying products for their skin or well-being. The pharmaceutical industry has to respond to this growing demand and needs more glass bottles. Perfumers are also major users of glass bottles, especially for premium products.

Glass bottles are becoming increasingly stylish, and technological advances in manufacturing processes should enable even greater customization and ever longer-lasting products.

The beverage market, particularly alcoholic beverages, dominates demand for glass bottles. The beer market accounts for over half ...

1.3 Domestic market

We offer an estimate of the size of the hollow glass industry in France, based on INSEE data. The activity is referenced under NAF code"**.** - Manufacture of hollow glass". Hollow glass refers to all glass containers: bottles, flasks and jars. The proposed estimate therefore represents a high end of the glass bottle market.

growth in glass industry sales France, ****-****, millions of euros Source: ****

The canned market has been growing rapidly since the end of the health crisis. In fact, while it was stable in **** - ****, the market declined by -**.*% between **** and **** due to the shutdown and subsequent slowdown of factories during the confinements. However, it exceeded its pre-Covid level by ****, reaching a value of *.** billion euros in **** (***). In the coming years, France's ecological transition should nevertheless stimulate the sector.

As France is highly dependent on external gas resources (***), glass prices have fluctuated enormously in recent years, but are now back on an acceptable level.

France is Europe's second-largest glass-producing country, with some forty furnaces in operation. The glass market is extremely unusual in that a furnace takes between two and three weeks to heat up. It is then used ** hours a day for ** years without ever being switched ...

1.4 Balance of trade

International trade in glass containers, including bottles, is tracked under code ****** "Glass carboys, bottles, flasks, jars, pots, tubular containers and other glass containers for transport or commercial packing, and glass preserving jars (***)". We'll be looking at imports and exports of these products, as well as our main trading partners, to identify trends in the glass bottle market.

Exports:

French glass packaging exports by value France, **** - ****, in $ millions Source: ****

French glass bottle exports have been growing since **** (***), despite a particularly low level reached at the time of the health crisis. In ****, France exported $***.* million worth of glass bottles, the highest figure ever achieved.

French glass packaging exports by volume France, **** - ****, in thousands of tonnes Source: ****

Exports by volume follow the same trend, with growth since **** (***). Unfortunately, we do not have access to the value for ****, so we cannot estimate the drop in exports between **** and ****. Nevertheless, we note very high export volumes in ****. However, the value of these exports is lower than the value of exports in ****, while the volume exported is around **% lower. This can be explained by the high inflation since ****.

Main buyers of French glass bottles France, ****, in thousands of kg and in millions of $ Source: ****

The ...

1.5 A resilient sector despite repeated crises: Covid-19, war in Ukraine, inflation

During the health crisis, as alcohol consumers drank more at home, they preferred larger containers such as wine cubes. In fact, the wine industry has seen a sharp rise in sales of wine in BIBs. But this in no way detracts from wine lovers' structural loyalty to glass bottles as a guarantee of authenticity[***]. The pandemic caused many players to halt production. While demand rebounded strongly, supply was no longer able to meet demand.

However, it was undoubtedly the rise in gas prices, a consequence of the war in Ukraine and the economic upturn, that most affected the sector. It is used in glass furnaces to raise sand to a temperature of *,*** - *,***°C[***].

assessment of the glass industry's sensitivity to rising gas costs France, ****, % Source: ****

There could be supply-related problems due to rising diesel prices and the shortage of truck drivers, already lamented before the war in Ukraine. However, the sector's biggest players, such as Verallia, are emerging stronger from these crises, as they are able to pass on higher production costs in their sales prices[***].

2.1 Demand stimulated by environmental and health concerns

"Glass packaging will be the container of the future", says Jacques Bordat, President of the French Federation of Glass Industries. Indeed, it is both safe for human health and less polluting than other materials such as plastic, and it perfectly preserves the tastes and smells of the food and beverages it contains.

Health:

An international study published in the journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, has highlighted the fact that almost *,*** chemicals are likely to migrate from packaging into food, posing a significant danger to human health. The least safe packaging in health terms is plastic (***).

Number of chemical substances in contact with food, by packaging World, ****, units Source: ****

ecology:

The French want to reduce their plastic consumption. According to an IPSOS survey published in La Dépêche in March ****, **% of French people are in favor of banning single-use plastic packaging. They are **% in favor of buying products sold with as little plastic packaging as possible.

Among the following practices, to what extent do they seem problematic in terms of the environment? France, ****, in Source: ****

**% of respondents consider plastic bottles to be problematic for the environment, which could be to the advantage of glass. However, this trend ...

2.2 The wine sector, the driving force behind the glass industry

The main consumer of glass bottles is the wine and spirits industry. Artisanal fruit juices and water can also frequently be found in this form, as can certain soft drinks, in small format, replacing cans. The market is therefore primarily B*B.

Grape wine market size in France France, **** - ****, in € billions Source: ****

The French wine market has been growing steadily since the early ****s, and this growth is unlikely to stop. The scale of French wine production, compared with the capacity of the glass industry, explains the massive reliance on imports. Highly dependent on demand from wine producers, the priority for the glass bottle market is to ensure the sustainability of this outlet. For this reason, in ****, the Fédération des Industries du Verre commissioned a CSA report to assess the place of the glass bottle in the world of wine, in the face of increasing sales of wine in BIBs (***), containers made of cardboard and plastic.

Comparison of the advantages of the glass bottle and the BIB according to BIB buyers France, ****, % of sales Source: ****

While **% of BiB buyers choose this format because of its low price, **% of consumers prefer the glass bottle because it offers better quality. ...

2.3 The French demand greater transparency in food packaging

In recent years, consumer demand for transparency has continued to grow. The French want to know everything about the products they consume, whether to protect their health or the planet. An LSA study provides an indication of this new expectation: while **% of those surveyed want more data on product origin, **% say they are more sensitive to this dimension since Covid. In general, **% of those surveyed would like to see greater transparency at the point of purchase in the coming years.

assessment of consumer demand for transparency France, ****, % (***) Source: ****

This desire for transparency also manifests itself in a desire to physically see what one is buying, which can be facilitated by glass packaging. Dairy producers in particular are seeking to benefit from this trend by turning increasingly to transparent glass containers. [***]

3.1 A local industry

The glass bottle industry is spread across the whole of France, with most plants located close to major vineyards to reduce distances traveled. There are some forty dedicated furnaces in France. The logistics chain is relatively short, with glass plants located on average *** km from their customers[***].

The stages in the industrial production of glass bottles are highlighted in blue in the diagram below. The product is obtained from a mixture of sand (***) are then added. The mixture is melted in a furnace at temperatures reaching almost *,***°C to melt the silica, then molded and strengthened. After a test phase, the bottles are packed on pallets for transport.

Source: ****

In France, the market is dominated by three players: Verallia, O-I and Vidrala. Only multinationals are capable of delivering large production volumes. Unfortunately, French companies failed to make it onto the podium, although Saverglass, a Picardy glassmaker founded in ****, is one of France's leading glass bottle manufacturers.

3.2 Production concentrated in the north

The number of establishments operating in the hollow glass manufacturing sector is increasing slightly, but has remained between *** and *** since ****. It is therefore a relatively closed market.

Number of establishments working in hollow glass manufacturing France, **** - ****, in units Source: ****

The number of employees fell during the health crisis, but has since risen again, reaching **,*** in ****.

Number of employees working in hollow glass manufacturing France, **** - ****, in units Source: ****

Hauts-de-France and Grand-Est are the two regions with the most establishments. Establishments are concentrated in the north of France.

Source: ****

However, Hauts-de-France is by far the region with the most employees, with just under four times as many as Grand Est.

Source: ****

3.3 Sand, the main constituent of glass

In April ****, the United Nations Environment Programme(***) warned of a potential sand crisis in a report. The document highlights the risk of a shortage of sand, a widely exploited resource only surpassed by water. The report highlights unregulated and growing exploitation due to increased demand, with sand consumption tripling over the past ** years. This increase is due to the growth of industrial activities in the glassmaking, concrete and building materials sectors, which have also tripled over the past two decades to ** billion tonnes per year. This is equivalent to around ** kilograms of sand per person per day, according to the report.

However, this situation does not apply to all types of sand, of which there are almost ten thousand different types, some natural and others manufactured. Industrial sands, chemically pure in silica, are rare and mainly used in glassmaking. According to a UN report, they account for just *% of global tonnage. It is important to note that they differ from the sand used in road and concrete construction, as well as aggregates made from hard rock. As a result, the resources needed to manufacture glass are not at risk of shortage. Moreover, their exploitation is highly regulated in France[***].

France has ...

3.4 The challenges of recycling

Since ****, it has been possible to recycle glass in France, and private individuals are strongly encouraged to do so. The average French person consumes ** kg of glass packaging every year, which represents **% of the weight of our household waste. Glass is the only packaging material that can be recycled indefinitely, and it is the most widely recycled in France: of the *.* million tonnes of waste collected by the sorting sector, it accounts for *.* million tonnes, or **%. It is collected mainly at the ***,*** drop-off points throughout the country.

Popularity of the two types of glass collection France, ****, in Source: ****

The first stage in the recycling chain is glass collection. There are two types of collection: voluntary drop-off, which is the most popular, and door-to-door selective collection. Some containers are now equipped with integrated fill detection systems. These systems make it easier to optimize collection rounds by avoiding the evacuation of skips that are only half-full, and also prevent them from overflowing, thus avoiding the accumulation of waste in the surrounding area[***].

Once collected, the glass goes through several sorting stages: mechanical (***). *** kg of CO* are avoided with each kilo of recycled glass. On average, **.* kg of glass per inhabitant are sorted each ...

3.5 Towards automation

The industry saw its first wave of automation in the early XXᵉ century, at a time when the glassblowing tradition was still alive and well. Since then, furnaces have become ever more sophisticated, and today there is a trend towards the robotization of hollow glass manufacturing.

This is particularly true of Novaxion's SR*** Swabbing Robot. This forming machine was developed in partnership with FANUC Robotics, one of the world's robotics giants.

The forming steps are repetitive, heavy and dangerous. The following models are available:

Glass drop collector robots; Bottle-lubricating robots.

Installing them in the factory can generate productivity gains of * to *%. Operators are less exposed to smoke and noise[***].

Robot manufacturer ADBrobot also offers models to optimize various glassmaking processes. In combination with loading machines, robots promise lower costs and greater efficiency.

4.1 Eco-design

Over the past ** years, the weight of glass packaging has been steadily reduced, in order to offer a product that protects and preserves its contents just as well as ever, but which is also more resource-efficient. For example, the weight of wine bottles has been reduced by **%.

Weight reduction of glass packaging in ** years France, ****, % (***) Source: ****

In addition to saving resources, eco-design makes recycling more efficient. A glass bottle that's easy to recycle :

does not need non-magnetic metal clasps, which are difficult to detach from the bottle; does not contain infusible materials (***), which can reduce the quality of new bottles and damage furnaces; is labeled with low-adhesive glue, making it easy to clean.

4.2 Product typology

Verallia offers a wide range of standard glass bottles:

Source: ****

Producers also offer new shapes in line with trends, as well as customized bottles. The purchase price depends on the customer's request and the quotation issued by the producer. Premium bottles focus on exclusivity: it is possible to play with textures, closure systems and designs. [***]

Standard glass bottles generally cost between €* and €* each, a price that decreases as the quantity increases. Take, for example, the best-selling "Bouteille en verre *** mL "bouteille de vin", col : liège" offered on the bouteilles-et-bocaux.com website:

4.3 Increasingly high production costs

For a number of reasons,players in the industry are faced with increasingly high production prices. First of all, inflation is responsible for the rise in raw material prices, which inevitably has an impact on production costs. But it is above all the rise in the price of energy, and especially natural gas, due to the energy crisis at the end of **** and then the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, that is behind this price increase.

Glass and glassware production price indices for the French market France, **** - ****, as % of GDP Source: ****

Glass and glassware output price indices for foreign markets France, **** - ****, in % Source: ****

Production price indices for French and foreign markets follow the same trends, peaking in January ****. However, they have been falling since the beginning of the year.

5.1 Regulations

The regulation of glass containers is managed at three levels:

at international level, ISO (***) coordinates the national bodies of *** countries; at European level, the CEN (***) works with the national bodies of ** countries, both members and non-members of the European Union; at national level, bodies such as AFNOR (***) in France, appoint experts to draw up standards, vote on and apply European standards in the form of national standards, and finance the work. They are also required to withdraw any national standard that conflicts with a European standard.

De facto standards differ from standards drawn up by standards organizations in that they are the result solely of consultation between producers and interested parties in a sector. Two scenarios are possible with these standards. The first is that they serve as the basis for an official standard, in accordance with regulatory provisions, in a pre-standardization approach. The second is that they remain de facto standards, without being transformed into official standards. Their success then depends on their market penetration rate and their adoption by the profession as a whole[***].

Examples of standards for glass bottles:

The manufacture of glass containers is governed by standard'ISO ****:****: Glass containers - Manufacture', revised in **** and still in force.this ...

5.2 Plastic ban

The gradual ban on plastic containers should encourage the re-emergence of the glass bottle and container market, with the possible advent of a deposit and reuse system.

This movement was started by Law no. ****-*** of August **, **** on energy transition for green growth, and the government's objective is now to move away from disposable plastic by ****.

The first plastics to be banned were checkout bags in ****. Since ****, the following have been banned

disposable plastic cups, glasses and plates; the sale of plastic bottles in catering establishments; the sale of plastic cotton buds.

The bans therefore extend far beyond bottles. Companies are encouraged to provide their employees with small glass bottles or water bottles, as well as free drinking water fountains, in view of the ban on supplying water in plastic bottles.

6. Segmentation

• Verallia
• Novaxion
• Owens-Illinois
• Vidrala
• Saint-Gobain Groupe
• Pochet Groupe
• Verescense
• Berlin Packaging
• SGD Pharma
• VetroElite (TricorBraun Group)
• Zignagovetro
• Bormioli Rocco
• Estal
• Pont Europe Packaging
• Saverglass
• VOA Verrerie d'Albi
• Rondot Glass
• O-I Glass
• ARC International