CAIRO: Egypt's glass industry is set to see stronger gains as domestic demand rises and export opportunities are seized, said Sphinx Glass managing director Mohamed Khattab in a statement. Ahead of the Intervuild Expo 2010, Sphinx Glass said it expected Egypt's glass processing sector to “double over the next five years as float glass production is expected to triple by year's end.” There is also increasing export demand from underserved emerging markets. Sphinx Glass participated in Interbuild, an annual construction event of the Middle East and North Africa region, which ended June 22 in Cairo. “We are seeing a major shift in the Egyptian glass processing sector, said Khattab, “demand generation coming from the domestic market as well as neighboring emerging markets could see Egypt's glass processing capacity double over the coming five years.” Egypt's annual float glass production capacity has jumped from 140,000 tons to its current 340,000 tons, and is expected to grow to approximately 600,000 tons by the end of 2010, he added. Sphinx Glass began float glass production this past March, and its products meet domestic needs as well as exports to neighboring markets. Its facility has a production output of 200,000 tons per annum and was designed to support 2 float lines, which means it could double production capacity in the future. He cited that environmental concerns and conservation efforts have also helped the glass processing sector, “as going ‘green' has meant that building materials for construction must provide environmental benefits too. …Today good quality glass delivers energy saving capabilities through improved climate control that is having a positive impact on environmental conservation,” added Khattab. The company said that Egypt's per capita consumption is around 3.2 kilograms, in comparison to European glass consumption, which averaged 14.3 kilograms per capita in 2009, while Africa showed 4.2 kilograms per capita during the same year.
