Glass shortages caused by rising energy costs could be the next “thorn in the side” automakers have to deal with.. This in parallel to the semiconductor crisis, whose supply cuts are still far from being overcome, conditioning everything that involves the electronic component of vehicles. It happens that this “headache” can be broken by yet another obstacle to production: the lack of glass. Without windows and windshields, it is impossible for new cars to leave the factory. For this reason, Volkswagen is already taking precautions against the possibility that, in the coming months, the glass will run out and the price will skyrocket.
Last year, Volkswagen Group sales fell 6.3% due to lack of chips, standing at 8.6 million vehicles. Now, Anticipating the difficulty of obtaining a supply of glass in the future, the German giant began to stock windows and windshieldsVolkswagen itself confirmed in a statement. The concern about the imminent crisis in the glass sector is such that the German manufacturer admits to going further, looking for suppliers outside the Old Continent.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Rising glass production costs, reflecting rising energy prices as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, are currently a cause for concern for car manufacturers. Especially those that depend on glass suppliers installed in Europe and, in particular, in Germany, where 40% of natural gas is imported from Russia, which leaves it more exposed to the volatility imposed by the Kremlin, compared to France or Italy. , as noted by Independent Chemical & Energy Market Intelligence (ICIS). Now, with winter at the doors and the door open to the continuous rise in energy prices, it is feared that the glass sector will suffer and, by extension, all the industries that depend on it. to remember that the production of this material involves very high temperatures (1200 to 1400ºC) to melt the silica in the sandcalcium oxide supplied by calcium carbonate and sodium oxide, the furnaces being fed by natural gas (in large quantities).
In this context, car manufacturers are not the only ones trying to guarantee the necessary glass stocks. Volkswagen’s option is in line with that of another German company, Brauerei C. & A. Veltins, a brewer that, after seeing the price of bottles rise by up to 90%, chose to go out on the market and buy the bottle volume. is bottled annually: neither more nor less than 50 million bottles. Potentially, the beverage sector will be one of the most affected by the expected rise in prices and the shortage of glass, but there are other business sectors that depend on this inorganic material. Car production lacks specific glasses, just like car manufacturers. tablets, smart phones and other electronic equipment. And even optics and the pharmaceutical industry, since there are several medicines that are marketed in glass containers, such as syrups, for example. Without forgetting the field of civil construction, due to cement, and many other areas…
Source: Observadora
