REGIONAL PRODUCTION & EXPANSIONS
In a recent report, the Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) stated that the investment size in at glass production in GCC member states exceeded 564 US dollars million in 2005.

The report added that there are over 75 producers in glass sector in GCC member states, most of them are centralised in Saudi Arabia, with a capacity of 131,000 tonnes per year.The capacity of major glass processing industrial units is around 1.1 million tonnes per year.

The report also expects that the annual consumption of at glass in GCC member states will exceed one million tonnes due to the recent phenomenal growth in the construction sector especially in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Growth rate in glass products in the last three years in GCC was about 8 per cent and expected to increase to 10-12 per cent in the coming three years.

The GCC at glass industry is composed of small group of glass producers and a much larger group of fabricators. The former operate integrated facilities that produce both basic oat glass and a wide variety of advanced products; the latter purchase basic oat glass and concentrate entirely on higher value-added products.

According to statistics, the UAE market for container glass bottles accounts for about 10 million US dollars, while the GCC market accounts for 75 billion US dollars. The UAE has two container glass factories with another on the anvil.

The neighbouring countries of Iran and Egypt boast a vibrant and growing glass production industry, making the region a hotspot for glass manufacturing activity.

Ceramic manufacturing is also growing in the Middle East with existing players planning expansions and new projects in the pipeline.