Stirom: Plastic packaging trims glass market growth

Stirom Bucharest, a glass packaging producer this year expects turnover worth 155 million RON (about 43 million euros), approximately 27% higher year-on-year, say the company”s representatives.

“We will witness a turnover surge owing to the rising volume of sales amid customers” reorientation toward domestic production, given the investment we made in retooling and product improvement,” Nick Barlagiannis, Stirom general manager, told ZF.

“The glass market is a difficult one, it takes high investments in retooling, and profits are small because prices need to be competitive with those of plastic packaging. For the time being, the evolution of the Romanian glass market has not changed Yioula group”s policy,” states Barlagiannis.

The glass market was worth around 180 million RON (50 million euros, last year, in line with Stirom representatives” estimates.

“The market did not advance last year, mainly because of plastic packaging,” commented Barlagiannis.

“At present, Stirom owns 45% of the glass packaging market, and the group”s share in the Romanian market comes to 65%,” Barlagiannis specifies.

“In 2005, exports weighed 23% in the turnover Stirom derived. The main countries exports are destined to are the United States, Hungary, Moldova, Bulgaria, Greece and Israel,” adds the general manager of Stirom.

In 2003, Yioula Glassworks, a Greek group, took over Stirom, and then launched a massive restructuring and modernisation process. The main stakeholder is Mediterranean Glass Limited (MGL), with 53.9%. The rest of the shares belong to some minority stakeholders. MGL is the financial vehicle of Yioula Glassworks.

No glass packaging manufacturer operates on the Romanian market at present, after Stimet Sighisoara, the main rival of Stirom, ceased operations.

The glass industry has been dramatically hurt by the high price of natural gas and the strengthening of the domestic currency, with six glass producing plants being forced to suspend production.

Over the 2006-2007 period, Yioula Glassworks will make total investments of 50 million euros in Stirom, the Bucharest-based producer of glass packaging for the food industry, in which it holds the majority stake. The injection from the Greek group will amount to approximately 10 million euros.

Investments will boost the company”s production capacity to at least 150,000 tonnes of glass packaging per annum, from 110,000 tonnes of glass packaging and 45,000 tonnes of household glass last year.

Stirom has already secured a 20 million-euro loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to finalise the restructuring process and to expand production lines. Early this year, Stirom contracted another loan worth 10 million euros from EBRD. catalin.lupoaie@zf.ro