The European gas crisis has forced energy-intensive industries to face the storm, with the glass industry being hit particularly hard.
A prominent feature of the glass industry is that the furnaces that melt glass must operate 24 hours a day. Once cooled, it can cause damage to the production facility. This also means that once the supply of natural gas as an energy source ceases, the entire plant must cease operations and bear the losses.
In response to the energy storm, European countries have drawn up contingency plans that, in a worst-case scenario, could lead to gas rationing for energy-intensive industries. But the question now facing the glass industry is where exactly they fit on the EU’s energy priority rationing list as a non-essential sector.
Already, some executives and industry analysts are concerned that a severe shortage of glass could lead to a repeat of the disruptions experienced during the pandemic.
The European beer industry is also under pressure. Some glass bottle makers have been forced to close factories or limit production, while others have raised prices.
A spokesman for German brewer Brauerei C. & A. Veltins said the company may have to raise beer prices next year as glass costs rise by about 90 percent. The spokesperson mentioned that under normal circumstances, the company will buy the glass bottles needed for the whole year at one time, about 50 million bottles, and rent additional warehouses for this purpose.
The milk industry has not been spared either, with Milk & More, the UK’s largest home milk delivery service, already looking for a solution. CEO Patrick Müller said Milk & More is working to increase the number of uses of its glass bottles from 25 to 30, by coating the inside of the bottle, adding lubricants to the production machinery and equipping the Precise positioning in case of bottle breakage.
Milk&More aims to reduce the use of 500,000 milk bottles a year, a drop of around 14%, Müller said:
I think the number one priority for the industry is to reduce costs.
Glass-making centers have also been forced to cut output. Venice Murano has been a glass-making hub since the 13th century, but Luciano Gambaro, president of trade group Promovetro Murano, said glass producers in the region have cut back on large sculptures, vases and sticks as gas prices have risen 900 percent in the past year. production of chandeliers.
The German Glass Association has previously stated that the “cut of gas” may result in a loss of 50 million euros per factory in the glass industry. Once there is a shutdown, the factory may even explode, and rebuilding the factory may take as short as a few months or as long as two years, which is a very heavy blow to the entire European market.
