Between April 2005 and the same month of 2006, the price of flat glass rose 58%, according to figures from the Bank of Mexico.
The factors affecting glass prices were energy costs, principally natura…
Between April 2005 and the same month of 2006, the price of flat glass rose 58%, according to figures from the Bank of Mexico. The factors affecting glass prices were energy costs, principally natural gas, and certain raw materials such as soda ash, said sector companies. “The glass industry has suffered price rises in energy… and the cost of raw materials has also gone up”, said Denis Meeus, director general of Saint-Gobain Glass, the second most important producer in Mexico. In April 2006 alone, the price rose 40%. The main clients are distributors and the small and medium glass processors, whose principal markets are residential, autoglass and household appliances. “The setting of the prices of our products depends on the behaviour of the market, which is part of the dynamic of the global economy”, said sources at the flat glass division of Vitro. Meeus said that Saint-Gobain has absorbed the rise through improvements in performance and productivity but warned that this situation could not continue for a long period of time. Nevertheless, a survey among glass distributors revealed that prices in 2006 had gone up; Cristbal Bez, head of the Crisvisa Pegaso glassworks, said the price of a 1.2 meter by 2.6 meter sheet, the most popular size, had risen from MXP 180.50 to MXP 245.70 in the last month.