Country profi le: Bangladesh

Bangladesh glass industry continues to expand

Bangladesh’s glass industry has attracted investment and attraction in the last decade. Seema Gahlaut presents an overview of the country’s container and flat glass industry.

South Asia is home to some of the most populated countries in the world. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - three major countries of the region feature in world’s top ten most populated countries.

It has been one of the biggest economic development success stories of recent decades.

Despite high poverty levels since its independence in 1971, Bangladesh is on course to graduate from the United Nations least-developed countries list in 2026.

Annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth has accelerated in every decade, reaching over 8% in 2019.

However, the economic development has not translated into big gains for the country’s glass industry. Per capita consumption of glass products in both the major sub-segments is low when compared to many other Asian countries.

The flat and container glass industry in Bangladesh comprises of four producers in each category.

Contrary to the general trend of the container glass industry having higher output than the flat glass, it is in fact the country’s flat glass industry that has higher output as compared to the container glass industry.

Compared to nearby Pakistan, which is also covered in this issue, Bangladesh has made remarkable performance during the last decade. It could be gauged from the fact that it is no longer among the least developing countries.

The volume of Bangladeshi exports is twice as much as Pakistan’s and same is the case with its

currency, Taka, whose value has nearly doubled than that of Pakistan’s rupee.

Bangladesh’s GDP growth rate is 7.9% compared to Pakistan’s 1.5%. The foreign exchange reserves held by Bangladesh are said to be at $41 billion as against Pakistan’s $20 billion. Only on remittances, Pakistan is ahead of Bangladesh.

Flat Glass Industry

Bangladesh current has four main flat glass producers. Nasir Glass Industries is located near the capital Dhaka, while PHP Float Glass Industries is situated close to the port city of Chittagong.

The two other producers are engaged in sheet glass production. MEB Sheet Glass Factory is located at Chittagong, while government-owned Usmania Sheet Glass Factory has its production unit in Dhaka.

Bangladesh’s construction sector has performed adequately during the previous few years, apart from in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

On average, 3.5 million houses are built annually in the country. The market for residential, commercial and office building stock is projected to increase by USD 72.3 billion by 2025.

According to Mohammed Mohsain of the PHP Float Glass, he explained that the ‘demand of flat glass products has been rising in the country due to the rise in infrastructure development’.

He said: “The demand has grown significantly over the last few years, which has encouraged us to launch new products. The glass industry has enormous potential, but it is also true that there has not been significant investments in the glass sector for some time.”

Nasir Group of Industries

Nasir Group is one of the two leading float glass producers in Bangladesh. Currently, the company is the largest float glass producer in Bangladesh.

Its manufacturing plant is located at a short distance from the capital city Dhaka, at Sripur in Gazipur and has an installed capacity to produce 72,000 tonnes of float glass.

The glass factory produces clear and tinted float glass in 2mm to 12mm thickness.

The company had commenced float glass production with a designed capacity of 250 tonnes per day in the year 2005. During the start of the last decade, Nasir Glass increased the designed capacity of 400 tonnes per day.

In December 2020, Nasir Group signed a general contract with China’s technology supplier CTIEC for the company’s third float glass production line with a designed capacity of 600 tonnes per day.

The company has a designed capacity to produce 100 tonnes per day of glass tableware products and 20 tonnes per day of glass tubing for fluorescent tube lamps and CFL lamps from its production facility located at Sohagpur in the Tangail district.

Equipped with technology from European suppliers such as Olivotto, JCL and Danner Tubing, the company has made its mark in manufacturing these types of product.

Nasir Group is one of the largest business conglomerates in Bangladesh and in addition to float glass, the group is engaged in production of industrial gases, tobacco, packaging, light engineering, melamine and footwear.

Nasir Glass is also among the leading glass processors in Bangladesh.

In March 2021, the company installed a set of pre-processing machines from Italian company Bavelloni to increase the capacity of processed glass at its manufacturing facility.

PHP Float Glass Company

PHP Float Glass is the second largest float glass producer in Bangladesh.

The company has a designed capacity to produce 150 tonnes per day of float glass products from its headquarters in Chattogram.

The project was set up with technical assistance from Luoyang Float Glass Technology of China.

To expand the product portfolio, the company installed a high-quality silver mirror plant in 2008 from the Chinese technology supplier.

In February 2021, PHP Float Glass commenced commercial production from its newly acquired sputtered coater. The company has a designed capacity to produce 1500 tonnes per month of coated glass through the new coater.

Amir Hossain Sohel, Managing Director of PHP Float Glass Industries said: “Two colours [blue and green] of imported reflective glass have been controlling the market, but we are going to offer various colours for the consumers and builders.

“We are introducing 10 colours of reflective glasses including pink, grey, blue, and silver that vary from 2mm-12mm in thickness.”

Usmania Sheet Glass

Usmania was the only flat glass manufacturing company in Bangladesh before its independence, established in 1959 in the Kalurghat industrial area of Chattogram and starting production in 1961.

After independence from Pakistan, Usmania Sheet Glass merged with Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation under the industries ministry.

Although it is known as the pioneer in the domestic glass industry, the company has incurred losses recently. It lost Tk 125.4 million in the 201920 financial year, up from Tk 108.2 million a year before.

Container glass industry

Contrary to the neighbouring container glass industries of China and India and despite its large population, Bangladesh lacks a sizable container glass industry.

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Other packaging format and especially PET packaging has been a deterrent in the development of the domestic container glass industry.

Demand from the beverage sector has been the largest disappointment for container glass producers.

Only carbonated beverage producers demand container glass bottles. There is hardly any use of container glass in the other categories such as juices, energy drinks etc.

According to data from the Bangladesh Beverage Manufacturers Association (BBMA), more than 100 companies are involved in the production of soft drinks in Bangladesh.

Investment in the sector has been Tk 100 billion during the last fifteen years.

Surprisingly, the pharmaceutical sector is the largest segment for container glass producers. Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical sector, which has been growing solidly at more than 15% a year, is currently sized at US$3 billion, and is expected to reach US$5 billion by 2025.

Once dependent on imports, the sector is now self-sufficient but is still dominated by domestic companies. The local sector produces 97% of the medicines that are needed in the local economy and is the second largest tax contributor to government revenue.

There are more than 150 firms in the industry with the top 20 firms making up around 85% of the total. The industry includes global brands like Square and Incepta.

The Bangladeshi pharmaceutical manufacturing firms mostly produce small-molecule generic drugs that are no longer patented in the domestic market.

The industry’s low-cost base relative to major exporters such as China and India suggest that there is a potential to increase exports. There is already a move toward a greater focus on exports.

Companies from Bangladesh are exporting to more than 127 countries around the world, according to the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceuticals Industries.

Bengal Glass Works

Government-owned Bengal Glass Works is the largest container glass producer in Bangladesh.

The company has been involved with container glass production since 1975, when it began commercial production from a 40 tonnes per day furnace.

In subsequent years, two more furnaces (in 1995 and 2011) were added.

Currently, the company has a designed capacity to produce 155 tonnes per day of container glass for pharmaceutical, food and beverage products and glass lamp shells which are used for manufacturing incandescent light bulbs.

JMS Glass Industries

JMS Glass commenced commercial production in 1985 at its manufacturing facilities, which are located at Siddirgonj, Narayangonj, near Dhaka.

JMS Glass Industries operates two furnaces (one for amber glass and other for flint glass) to produce about two million glass bottles per day for pharma, beverage, food and cosmetics industries.

Padma Glass Industries

Pharmaceutical glass producer Padma Glass ventured into container glass production in 1988 by setting up a production unit at Barisal district in the country.

In 2011, the group setup another container glass plant (Padma Blowing Limited) at Barisal for producing glass ampoules, glass vials and bottles for pharmaceutical industries.

Segway Glass

Segway Glass is a subsidiary of leading healthcare products company Jayson Group of Companies. Jayson Group produces pharmaceuticals, herbal medicines, veterinary items and animal feed.

Equipped with a modern manufacturing facility from German company Schott, Segway Glass produces glass ampoules for injections.

Currently, besides supplying ampoules to the local pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh, Segway exports some proportion of its output to other South Asian countries. �

http://nasirgroup.com.bd/ https://phpfamily.co/businesses/float-glass/ https://www.ugsflbd.com/ https://www.bengalglass.com/ http://www.jmsglass.net/ https://jaysongroupbd.com/segway/home