Oberland Glas AG (majority owned by Saint-Gobain), suffered a decline in earnings in 1997, and the management board is reluctant to make a forecast for 1998, given difficult market conditions for container glass, according to recent reports. There is no sign of growth on the domesic market, where 79% of revenues were secured in 1997. The company is having to contend with oversupply and competing materials. As a counter measure, the advantages of container glass, such as its environmental potential, are to be highlighted. With the sale of a problem stake in Ruhr Kristall Glass GmbH on 1 Jan 1997, which represented a withdrawal from industrial glass for Oberland, the company no longer produces consolidated group figures. Oberland's turnover fell 1.6% to DM674.5m in 1997. Container glass contributed DM629.1m while flat glass accounted for DM40.9m.
