Global Float Glass Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

Global Float Glass Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

Float glass is extremely smooth, distortion-free glass used in many window applications. It also provides the material for many other forms of glass, including tinted glass (heat absorbing) and laminated glass. Float glass is made by pouring the molten glass from a furnace into a chamber that contains a bed of molten tin. The process is sometimes call the Pilkington Process. The atmosphere inside the chamber is carefully controlled. The glass floats on the tin and forms itself in the shape of the container. It spreads 90 to 140 inches wide at a thickness determined at the time of manufacture.

This method gives the sheet uniform thickness and very flat surfaces. Modern windows are made from float glass. In the float glass process, the ingredients (silica, lime, soda, etc.) are first blended with cullet (recycled broken glass) and then heated in a furnace to around 1600°C to form molten glass. The molten glass is then fed onto the top of a molten tin bath.

Market Overview:

The latest research study on the global Float Glass market finds that the global Float Glass market reached a value of USD 37708.76 million in 2022. It’s expected that the market will achieve USD 42583.06 million by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 2.05% during the forecast period.

Technological advancements are transforming the float glass industry. Market demands for high-performance glass and pressure to reduce the environmental impact of production have led to significant advancements in float products and process technology. The push for more high-performance glass products has helped many glass companies transform from commodity suppliers to producers of value-added products. Focusing on improvements in manufacturing processes, leading glass manufacturers are also implementing efficiency improvements in float plants as they seek to reduce emissions and environmental impact from energy and cost-intensive glass manufacturing. One such improvement is the use of oxygen-fuel furnaces, compared to conventional glass furnaces, oxy-fuel-powered glass plants have demonstrated the ability to reduce the amount of fuel needed to make finished glass by more than 15 percent while cutting associated carbon emissions by 10 percent and nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 50 percent. Tighter environmental regulations around the world will require all markets to move to more efficient floating plants. Moreover, the shift to higher performance end products will continue to drive growth. These advancements will be particularly evident further down the supply chain as high-tech value-added glass such as Dynamic Glass continues to gain popularity.

Increasing Demand from Building and Construction Segment

The construction industry is the major consumer of float glass in the global market. Float glass, owing to its high degree of light transmission, ability to be produced in a range of colors and opacities, and good chemical inertness, among other properties, is widely preferred in the construction industry.
Raw material costs fluctuate
The cost of raw materials and energy is the main component of the cost of float glass, and it is the decisive factor that affects the change in the cost of glass. Float glass is a highly energy-consuming process, as it requires high temperatures to process raw materials. The fuels commonly used in glass production include heavy oil, natural gas, coal tar, coke oven gas, coal, and petroleum coke (heavy sulfur). Among these raw materials, natural gas has the highest cost, but it is also the cleanest, which is the target trend of industry development. Petroleum coke is more cost-effective and has the widest range of applications. However, due to its high sulfur content, it is necessary to the installation of desulfurization and dust removal equipment has a relatively high investment in fixed assets in the early stage. Fuel prices often have a greater relationship with crude oil prices. There are more participants in the crude oil market, and the price fluctuation factors are also relatively large. This will affect the production cost of float glass.

Region Overview:

Geographically, East Asia held the largest market share – 61.3% in 2021.

Company Overview:

AGC is one of the major players operating in the Float Glass market, holding a share of 10.19% in 2022.

AGC

AGC Inc. manufactures and sells glass products. The Company produces architectural glass, automotive glass, applied glass materials, and other products. AGC also produces electronics, chemicals, and other products.

Xinyi Glass

Xinyi Glass is the world's leading integrated glass manufacturer dedicated to the production of high-quality float glass, automotive glass, energy-saving architectural glass and other products.

Segmentation Overview:

By type, 3~5mm segment accounted for the largest share of market in 2021.

Application Overview:

The market's largest segment by application is the segment Architectural Industry, with a market share of 75.92% in 2021.

Key Companies in the global Float Glass market covered in Chapter 3:

Cardinal
SYP
Guardian Industries
Vitro SAB de CV
Sisecam
AGC
NSG Group
Central Glass
Yaohua
Luoyang Glass
Fuyao Group
China Southern Glass
Taiwan Glass
Saint Gobain
Kibing-Glass
YINGXIN
Sanxia New Material
Jinjing Group
China Glass Holdings
Xinyi Glass

In Chapter 4 and Chapter 14.2, on the basis of types, the Float Glass market from 2018 to 2029 is primarily split into:

3~5mm
5~8mm
8~10mm
Others

In Chapter 5 and Chapter 14.3, on the basis of Downstream Industry, the Float Glass market from 2018 to 2029 covers:

Architectural Industry
Automotive Industry
Others

Geographically, the detailed analysis of consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate, historic and forecast (2018-2029) of the following regions are covered in Chapter 8 to Chapter 14:

North America (United States, Canada)
Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden)
Asia Pacific (China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia)
Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina)
Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa)