Glass Sales Up

Saint-Gobain's glass sector posted the strongest financial performance within the group during 2001, bolstered by higher prices across all the business lines and sustained higher prices across all the business lines and sustained demand for flat glass. The firm says glass sales overall rose 4.4%; flat glass climbed 7.5%; insulation and reinforcement glass rose 0.6% and containers rose 4.2%. This contrasted with the high performance materials sector, whose sales fell in 2001. In Saint-Gobains third main sector, housing products, cost cutting and rationalisation helped boost performance.