Saint-Gobain Building Glass Romania – Balance after 10 years: 180 million euros investment and permanent business growth

Saint-Gobain Glass Romania, the leader of the local glass market, realized in the 10 years after entering the local market, investments of approx. 180 million euros, the funds being allocated to development of the largest glass production unit in our country and in the region.

The company, part of the French group Saint-Gobain, has entered the Romanian market in 2005, the same year laying the headstone of the manufacturing plant in Calarasi - the largest Greenfield investment after the '90s, in our country. The factory was inaugurated in 2007 and so far the investment reached approx. 180 million euros.

The initial investment of about 135 million euros was achieved for the development of float glass line, and then, in 2008, was inaugurated the metal coating line, following an investment of about 35 million euros. In 2013 was also opened the line of laminated glass, after a 6 million euros investment. Another 10 million euros were targeted in other upgrades of existing lines during these 10 years.

"In this moment, the factory in Calarasi covers an area of 34 hectares, the construction of dedicated production lines and offices totaling over 10 hectares", said Norbert Teschner, General Manager Saint-Gobain Glass Romania Building. He added that today the company has 486 employees, of which 249 are involved in the production process.

Total production of 21 million square meters of glass

The production capacity in the Saint-Gobain Building Glass factory  is 21 million square meters of float glass. Of this, about 10 million square meters undergone a metalic coating  on the sputtering line, and another 2 million square meters of glass (both float and sputters) goes to the laminated line.

Thus, the company produced several categories of glass - the float, coatings (ranges SGGCool-Lite, SGGPlanitherm, Anti-reflective glass, SGGDiamant, SGGStadip etc.).

"We permanently inovate and launch new types of glass, our main focus being expanding sales of products that offers benefits to the end-users regarding energy savings, safety and security", added Norbert Teschner.

60% of the company's production goes to exports

Regarding the company's sales, 40% of production is directed to partners and projects on the local market. The remaining 60% of the products manufactured in Romania go abroad in 42 countries, including Bulgaria, Turkey, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, Greece and Croatia.

Locally, the glass produced in Calarasi is used in all market segments, but mostly, 50%, is directed to projects in the residential segment. In second place among the types of projects where Saint-Gobain Buliding Glass products are used is the office segment.

"The maturing of the market in recent years has led to a stronger customer orientation towards types of glass with superior features such as SGGPlanitherm 4S SGGStadip Evolution® and laminated glass, on the residential segment, and also to ranges like SGGCool-Lite®, SGGXtreme®, SGGDiamant®. Together, these glass types with superior properties came to represent more than half of the turnover realised on the Romanian market”, the company's representative says.

Business of approx. 80 million euros in 2016 and plans for the future

Regarding the company's business, Norbert Teschner said that this year the company counts on a business advance of 9-10% compared to 2015, when Saint-Gobain Buliding Glass turnover reached approx. 72 million euros.

"In the first half of this year, the growth was accelerated and we reached an income of 42.6 million euros. Therefore, we are optimistic and we expect for 2016 sales of over 80 million euros", he added.

The General Manager of the company said also that the plans for Saint-Gobain Building Glass Romania doesn’t stop here. Thus, in the next period, the company aims to allocate new investments for the inauguration of a new production line.

"For 2018 we have in plan a new production line of special glass for windshields. The new line will have a capacity of 500,000 windshields per year. We will also hire another 130 people", said Norbert Teschner. It stressed further that the new investment is in line with local and European market needs.

About Saint-Gobain Glass

Saint-Gobain Glass, a company with a tradition of over 350 years within the French group Saint-Gobain, specializing in the production of construction materials, is the largest glass producer in Europe and the second largest glass producer in the world, with sales of more than 39.6 billion euro in 2015.

The company entered the Romanian market in 2005, but started the glass production in 2007, once the building of the factory in Calarasi was completed. The factory in Romania, which has about 486 employees, is one of the main manufacturing centers that the group has in Europe.