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Executive Summary

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The apparent UK market for glass packaging in 1998 was valued at £640m, representing a total increase of 18.5 percent from the £540m achieved in 1994. In this report, market size includes UK manufacturers' sales (at manufacturers' sales prices -- msp) plus imports, minus exports. Sales by the glass packaging industry, consisting of bottles, jars, ampoules and vials, are primarily to the manufacturers and contract packers of food and drink, perfumes, cosmetics and toiletries, pharmaceuticals, household care and some miscellaneous products. The most important markets are food and drink, which together account for 78 percentof the industry's total sales. The next most important outlets are the perfume, cosmetics and toiletries markets, followed by the pharmaceutical sector and then household care.
Glass packaging has a relatively small share of the major packaging activities, holding 6.1 percent of the total estimated £11.4bn packaging market, and is therefore well behind paper and board, plastics and metal. Manufacturers are essentially suppliers of packaging to the higher value niche markets where glass has the image of being a quality product. These are potentially more profitable than the high-volume markets, as they involve closer partnerships with customers whose businesses frequently demand short production runs. Glass is little used as the packaging material for volume markets, with the exception of milk bottles, although this would be feasible.
Following a long period of decline, the manufacturing side of the industry consolidated into fewer but larger units, invested in the latest design and manufacturing techniques, automated most of the production processes and severely cut back on its labour force. Through reducing costs and introducing more innovatory products, and by providing a fast response to customer enquiries, the industry has managed to generate more business and stop any further decline. Today, there are four UK manufacturers of glass packaging containers that have an annual turnover of over £40m. These companies, namely United Glass Ltd, Rockware Glass Ltd, PLM Redfearn Ltd and Beatson Clark PLC, dominate the industry as they are able to satisfy the whole range of customer requirements. The smaller companies are more specialised, targeting specific market areas for which they have developed a particular expertise.
The future demand for glass containers is dependant on maintaining high levels of individual service, further reductions in production costs and technical innovation. The industry may be favoured by the increasingly strict packaging and recycling laws which are believed to be more easily achieved by glass than other packaging materials. Of critical importance, however, is whether or not the markets for glass are likely to expand naturally over the next 5 years to 2003. It is expected that the food and drink sectors will grow slowly, along with the markets for perfumes, cosmetics and toiletries, as a part of the increase in consumers' expenditure is allocated to qualitative improvements in living standards. Conversely, a decline in demand is expected from the pharmaceutical sector (where the trend is towards plastics), and also household care and micellaneous products. Key Note estimates that the apparent UK market size will consequently increase by 10.4 percent, from £652m in 1999 to £720m in 2003.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary

Market Definition

INTRODUCTION

MARKET SECTORS

MARKET POSITION

MARKET TRENDS

Table 1: Estimated Share of UK Packaging Market by Product Sector (£bn and percent), 1998

Table 2: Number of VAT-Based Enterprises in the UK Packaging Industry, 1998

Market Size

THE TOTAL MARKET

MARKET SECTORS

MARKET GROWTH

OVERSEAS TRADE

Table 3: Apparent UK Market for Glass Packaging (£m at msp), 1994-1998

Table 4: Estimated Market Shares in the Main Product Areas by Value (£m), 1998

Table 5: Total UK Exports and Imports in Glass Packaging (£m), 1997 and 1998

Table 6: Exports of Glass Packaging Containers to EU and Non-EU Countries (£m), 1997 and 1998

Table 7: Imports of Glass Packaging Containers from EU and Non-EU countries (£m), 1997 and 1998

Industry Background

RECENT HISTORY

INDUSTRY CONCENTRATION

GLASS MANUFACTURE

EMPLOYMENT

DISTRIBUTORS AND IMPORTERS

TRADE ASSOCIATIONS

Table 8: Number of VAT-Based Enterprises by Turnover Size, 1998

Table 9: UK Glass Recycling Figures, 1998

Table 10: Number of Manufacturing Units by Employment Sizeband, 1998

Competitor Analysis

THE MARKETPLACE

MARKET LEADERS

Table 11: Leading UK Manufacturers and Distributors of Glass Packaging (£m), 1997-1998

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)

STRENGTHS

WEAKNESSES

OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

Buying Behaviour

DEMAND FOR GLASS PACKAGING

ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES

AESTHETICS OF GLASS CONTAINERS

Table 12: Estimated Market Shares in the Main Product Areas by Value ( percent), 1998

Outside Suppliers to the Industry

INTRODUCTION

RAW MATERIALS

Current Issues

EU PACKAGING TARGETS

COMPETITION

LIGHTWEIGHTING

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENTS

INVESTMENT IN THE CONTROL OF FACTORY EMISSIONS

Forecasts

INTRODUCTION

FORECAST FOR 1999 TO 2003

Table 13: Forecast of the Apparent UK Market for Glass Packaging 1999-2003 (£m at constant 1999 prices)

Company Profiles

INTRODUCTION

DEFINITIONS

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further Sources

ASSOCIATIONS

PERIODICALS

DIRECTORIES

GENERAL SOURCES

HOPPENSTEDT BONNIER INFORMATION SOURCES

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

OTHER SOURCES

Text © 1999 Key Note

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Last updated by Jacob van Eldik 21th January 2000