Egyptian Glass Works, a platform for glass investments in the Middle East & Africa, has a 35% stake in Misr Glass Manufacturing (MGM), a leading manufacturer & exporter of glass containers in the Middle East/N Africa, & 51% of Sphinx Glass, a state-of-the-art, US$ 200M greenfield float glass plant in Egypt. MGM has been an important player of container glass in the wider GCC region & over the years, has emerged as the region's leading manufacturer of glass containers, investing approximately US$ 54.5M to upgrade its technology base & expand capacity. MGM is currently constructing another plant (United Glass Company container-glass facility), which will add 110,000/tpa of additional capacity. The first phase of the project is expected to be commissioned in 2011, with the second phase to follow in 2012. Besides easing the demand supply mismatch, this new capacity will create more competition among the GCC based container glass manufacturers. "Such aggressive expansion in Egypt is another clear indication that the container industry in the Middle East and Maghreb region is one of the most globally strategic," says Derek Burston, exhibition manager, Gulf Glass 2011. "This is certainly being borne out by the list of container technology exhibitors that have signed up for the Gulf Glass event in March - the largest container contingent we have ever seen in fact," he adds.
