• Quarterly group revenues at Nippon Sheet Group were 9 percent down from the previous year, at $4 billion compared to $4.49 billion; the profit from the corresponding quarter of the previous year was down to $50 million from $128 million, as a result of challenging market conditions, particularly in Europe. Its automotive and technical glass divisions posted profits lower than the corresponding quarter, while its architectural division posted a loss.
• A 68 percent rise in Gorilla Glass sales helped Corning Inc. post record fourth quarter results. The company’s fourth quarter total sales were $2.15 billion—a 14 percent year-over-year increase and the largest quarterly sales in its history. The quarter performance was ignited by consumer sales of handheld and IT devices containing Gorilla Glass, which totaled $399 million.
• The container glass industry in Italy is suffering from general economic contingency. In the first ten months of 2012 the overall container production has been 2.95 million tons, showing a 5.5 percent decrease versus same period of 2011.
• World demand for flat glass is forecast to rise 7.1 percent per year through 2016 to 9.2 billion square meters. Gains in the dominant building construction market will be driven by a significant acceleration in building construction activity. The global market value of fabricated flat glass is forecast to reach $90 billion in 2016 (for 9,230 mill sq. meters). The Asia/Pacific region, which accounted for 60 percent of global flat glass demand (on a square meter basis) in 2011, will continue to post the fastest gains through 2016; in China will slow in comparison to the pace of the 2006-2011 period, but remain well above the world average. These and other trends are presented in World Flat Glass to 2016, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc.
• (Financial Times) At a tough time for global steel markets, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) has established itself as Russia’s largest steel producer after bringing on stream the country’s first new blast furnace since Soviet times. But, with steel prices weak, the extra output isn’t generating as much cash as NLMK might have hoped. The group warned of an 8 percent drop in fourth quarter revenues and a flat Q1 2013.