Glass, Italy exceeds Germany in production capacity

Energy costs among the highest in Europe, international turbulence, real and trade wars, challenging objectives posed by decarbonisation and the green transition. This is a difficult time for the Italian glass industry, a strategic asset of the Italian economy that, despite these challenges and a drop in production in 2024, continues to increase employment and production capacity, relying on the strength of the national economic system and that of the reference sectors: food & beverage, construction, automotive, pharmaceuticals. Today, then, with the realisation of new furnaces dedicated to packaging, the glass industry becomes the leading manufacture in Europe, surpassing even Germany: Italy today has a production capacity of 6.5 million tonnes of glass, compared to 5.5-5.7 in Germany.

This is the positive message launched by the annual assembly of Assovetro, the association of glass industrialists, a member of Confindustria, which has a portfolio of 73 member companies, 111 production sites, 16,526 direct employees (over 3% more than the previous year), and produces an added value of 3.2 billion euro, down on last year.

"The value of our industry is not only economic and social, but is also represented by our support for Made in Italy," Marco Ravasi, president of Assovetro, comments: "Italian glass dresses food products, wines, beers and bubbles, it is on car windshields and in new architecture. 2024 was a difficult year, but by betting on the future of our reference sectors, Italian manufacturers have increased their production capacity in recent months. The growth of glass in Italy and the concomitant downsizing in other countries has led us to become the leading European manufacturer not only in hollow glass, but of all glass in addition to its various applications. Positive news is also represented by the EU's go-ahead for the energy release that will allow energy-hungry industries, like ours, to purchase energy at reduced prices. Gas and electricity remained a critical issue for an energy-hungry industry that consumes around 1.5 per cent of national gas and electricity consumption in 2024.

Imports and exports of glass with EU countries remained stable in 2024. The preferred partners remained France Germany and Spain, which slightly exceeded Germany in the destination countries. In 2024, trade in glass products not only recovered from the previous year's negative trend, but also turned positive, recording a balance of 75 million euro, which, compared to last year's performance, is +100%. In terms of quantity, the interchange of the entire sector recorded an increase of 1.3% on imports and a decrease of 3% on exports..