Mexican glassmaker, Vitro SA, is reportedly concerned about cheaper plastic bottle prices which threaten to force Vitro to defend market share on its line of glass bottles, a top executive said. "Definately, in packaging we have to watch carfully the relationship between the price of glass containers compared to PET," Vitro's chief financial officer said recently. Industry analysts said lower PET prices allow its producers to offer more attractive prices to bottlers, which in turn are threatening Vitro's hold on the market and are forcing the glassmaker to keep its prices down. Lightweight, sturdy PET containers are a relatively new development in Mexico's soft drink industry, which had been dominated by long-neck glass bottles made by companeis like Vitro. Reports say that Vitro's container division generated 30% of the company's $2.525bn income in 1997.
