The reporter learned from the China Construction Materials Federation that since the beginning of this year, the construction technology glass industry has continued the trend of the previous year. Driven by the rapid recovery of demand markets such as photovoltaic cells, real estate, automobiles, computers, and communication, the industry has experienced strong production. In the first half of the year, the national production of flat glass above designated size reached 510 million weight boxes, a year-on-year increase of 10.8%; The production of tempered, laminated, and hollow glass technologies reached 430 million square meters, a year-on-year increase of 22.4%.
At the same time, the economic benefits of the industry have rebounded significantly. From January to June, the operating revenue of construction technology glass enterprises above designated size was 182.48 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 37.7%, with a total profit of 26.92 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 140.1%, and a sales profit margin of 14.8%. Among them, the operating revenue of the flat glass enterprise was 55.36 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.2%, the total profit was 12.12 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 155%, and the sales profit margin was 21.9%; The operating revenue of the technical glass enterprise was 127.12 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 34.3%, with a total profit of 14.81 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 129.2%, and a sales profit margin of 11.7%.
Since the beginning of this year, the price of flat glass has seen a significant increase. Data shows that in June 2021, the factory price index of flat glass industrial products reached 147.1, an increase of 11.2% month on month and 74.1% year on year. Regarding the reasons for the fluctuation in the price of flat glass, the relevant person in charge of the Industry Work Department of the China Building Materials Federation analyzed:
One is the change in the production and sales structure of flat glass. The proportion of high-quality flat glass production and sales for photovoltaic, automotive, low radiation, and electronic glass has increased, and its price is more than twice that of ordinary building flat glass raw sheets, resulting in an increase in the average price of flat glass.
The second is the steady growth of market demand. In recent years, the production and sales of flat glass have significantly rebounded, mainly driven by the demand for raw flat glass sheets for photovoltaic glass. Since the beginning of this year, the stable recovery of China's economy has also led to a significant increase in demand in the main glass market.
Thirdly, the significant increase in raw material prices has increased the cost of glass production. As one of the main raw materials for glass production, the price of soda ash has increased from around 1300 yuan/ton in the fourth quarter of last year to around 3200 yuan/ton currently. In addition, the prices of natural gas, sand and gravel used in glass production have also increased, which has to some extent increased the production cost of glass products.
Recently, the Raw Materials Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology held a video conference on the price of flat glass. It was mentioned that in recent years, the supply side structural reform of the flat glass industry has achieved good results, and the entire industry has strictly implemented capacity replacement policies. The contradiction of overcapacity has been significantly alleviated, production has steadily increased, and benefits have significantly improved.
The relevant person in charge of the Industry Work Department of the China Building Materials Federation stated that various measures should be taken to coordinate the upstream and downstream industry chains, promote the establishment of a price adjustment mechanism suitable for the supply and demand relationship in the construction technology glass industry, and ensure stable price fluctuations.
