Mixed Fortunes For Europe'S Glassmakers

In 1995, almost 25.7m tonnes of glass was produced in the EU, representing an increase of 2.7% over the previous year. Employment remained virtually stable at about 210,000 people. Although 1995 cannot be considered to have been a bad year with only slight but continuous progression of production in volume terms, it has not been as brilliant as 1994 for some industry sectors, especially flat glass, depressing the rate of capacity utilisation. On the other hand, the glassfibre sector continued to grow, reaching record production and shipments figures. In between, container glass fared satisfactorily, while special glass was influenced by the development of general industrial demand which worsened later in the year.