Glass has become one of the most common materials that are nowadays widely used in various of industries such as construction, transportation, electronics, medical, energy and homeware products etc, while the top 10 largest glass companies are dominating the global market and contributing immensely to the growth of the global glass industry. It is expected that global glass industry will continue its steady growth through 2020, this is mainly attributed to the rising demand in the downstream sectors which has been boosted by the rapid urbanization around the world.
This industry fact sheet is to assist industry professionals, investors, and people in general that are interested in gaining insights into the global glass and glass products industry including:
- How much is the global glass industry worth?
- What are the driving factors for the glass market growth?
- Who is the largest glass manufacturer?
- Who are the top 10 largest glass companies in 2020?
- What are the glass market trends in the near future?
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Global Glass Industry Analysis
According the recent market report listed on Research and Market, the global flat glass market size was valued at US$115.8 billion in 2019, and it is expected to reach $153.3 billion by 2024, representing an impressive CAGR of over 6.6% during the forecast period. The thriving construction industry around the world, which requires using glass for manufacturing windows, doors, mirrors etc, is the key factor driving the growth of the global glass market. Meanwhile, flat glass is widely used in photovoltaic modules or solar panels in the global solar energy industry. Due to the rising need for clean energy across the globe, the demand for glass is also like to spike in the near future.
The demand for flat glass in the automotive industry experienced a decline in 2019, mainly caused by the decline in automobile manufacturing sectors in major economies such as China, India, U.S., and Western Europe. However, this downturn is estimated to be structural and automotive production is expected to stabilize from 2020. Therefore, the demand for flat glass in automotive industry is expected to rebound.
Geographically, North America is the largest market for glass and glass products, accounting for revenue share of 17.9% in the global market of 2019. However, glass market in Asia Pacific is expected to witness some of the fastest growing rate of 7.1% CAGR from to 2027. The region, led by China and India, is set to experience construction and infrastructure boom in the coming years across its residential, non-residential, industrial, and infrastructural categories.
Top 10 Largest Glass Companies in 2020
Saint Gobain – 2019 Revenue: $49.3 billion
Saint-Gobain S.A. is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris. Its core business includes design, manufacture, and distribution of glass products for cars, home and office, and health and industrial applications. The company began as a mirror manufacturer, it is now one of the world’s top 10 largest glass companies, producing variety of glass and glass products for construction, industrial, automotive, and other sectors.
PPG Industries – 2019 Revenue: $15.1 billion
PPG Industries is a U.S.-based world’s leading supplier of Automotive Coatings, providing a full portfolio of products and services to all global automotive OEM companies. It also supply flat glass for automotive industry. In 2019, the company generated around 15.1 billion U.S. dollars of revenue, making it one of the largest glass manufacturers in the world.
Corning International – 2019 Revenue: $11.5 billion
Corning Incorporated is an American multinational company that specializes in specialty glass, ceramics, and related materials and technologies including advanced optics, primarily for industrial and scientific applications. It is one of the world’s largest industrial and technical glass companies. Corning is also the developer and manufacturer of Gorilla Glass, the glass used as screen for many smartphones.
AGC Co. – 2019 Revenue: $14.9 billion
AGC Inc, formerly Asahi Glass Co., Ltd., is a world’s leading glass manufacturing company headquartered in Tokyo Japan. It is the largest glass company in the world by market share. Today, it has over 55000 employees globally and extends into over 30 countries and regions with regional pillars in Japan/Asia, Europe and North & South America.
Kyocera Co – 2019 Revenue: $14.6 billion
Kyocera Corporation is one of the world’s largest glass companies and leading producers of fine ceramics based in Japan. Kyocera’s glass and ceramic products are nowadays widely used in industrial and automotive components, semiconductor packages, electronic devices, solar power generating systems, printers, copiers and mobile phones.
Nippon Sheet Glass Co – 2019 Revenue: $5.7 billion
Nippon Sheet Glass engages in the manufacture and sale of glass and glazing products. Its architectural business segment manufactures and sells flat glass, interior and external glazing products, and glass for the solar energy sector. The automotive segment supplies automotive glass for new vehicles and replacement markets. The technical glass segment manufactures and sells very thin glass for small displays, lenses, light guides for printers, and glass fiber products that includes battery separators and glass components for engine timing belts.
Guardian Industries – 2019 Revenue: $5.6 billion
Guardian Industries is one of the world’s largest glass companies based in Michigan, United States. The company is well known for manufacturing float glass, fabricated glass products, fiberglass insulation and other building materials for commercial and residential construction and automotive industries.
Fuyao Glass Industry Group – 2019 Revenue: $2.8 billion
Fuyao Glass Industry Group is a China-based glass company specialized in the manufacture and distribution of float glasses and flat glasses in automotive industry. The Company’s products portfolio consists of automobile glasses, such as coating glasses and others, which are applied in passenger cars, buses, limousines and others, and float glasses. The Company distributes its products within domestic markets and to overseas markets.
Vitro Glass – 2019 Revenue: $2.1 billion
Founded in 1909 in Monterrey, Mexico, Vitro Glass is one of the world’s largest glass companies. With subsidiaries throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, Vitro produces, processes, distributes and markets a wide range of glass products. Vitro operates through over 30 subsidiaries across Mexico, United States, Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama.
China Glass Holdings – 2019 Revenue: $333.7 million
China Glass Holdings Limited (CNG) is China’s leading float glass and the major reflective glass manufacturer. It has a variety of products ranging from float glass, reflective glass, energy-saving glass, PV product to deep processed glass, etc. Its online reflective glass holds a large measure of market share. Its products are exported to more than 100 countries and regions, used in domestic and foreign landmark buildings
Global Glass Market Trends in Future
One of the major glass market trends that has been observed over the recent years is the rising application of smart glass. Smart glass is known as is a type of glass whose light transmission properties are altered when voltage, light, or heat is applied, meaning that the smart glass can automatically change its transparency according to the change of lights or other variables. Recent trend indicates rapid application of glass in building architecture that maximizes natural daylight through the usage of smart glass in facades and roofs. This is expected to play a key role in propelling product demand over the coming years. Moreover, innovations such as triple silver insulated low-e products are also becoming trendy. Low-e flat glass contribute to energy savings of a building and are likely to experience significant growth owing to rising requirement of energy-saving buildings across the globe.
