Emirates Glass, a subsidiary of Dubai Investments and one of the largest processors of flat architectural glass in the Middle East, has recorded manufacturing of more than 1,800,000 sq m of glass products, valued at over Dh180 million ($49.003 million) during 2019.

Recording a 10 per cent rise in business as compared to the previous year, the company has confirmed more than 40 per cent of business being generated from the UAE, said a statement from the company.

Higher percentage of customer retention coupled with optimum delivery services have been instrumental in garnering new projects, the company has confirmed. Latest products like Emicool Solite and Emicool Sun T Series have been identified as products that facilitated the maximum volumes of sales.

Under the varied product portfolio for Emirates Glass, the MSVD sputter-coated high performance glass under the EmiCool range of solar control, multi-functional Low-E and standard Low-E glass are designed to minimise solar heat gain into air-conditioned buildings.

An Emirates Glass coating line

The EmiCool range accounts for Single Silver, Solar Low-E, Solar Control, and Double Silver offerings; each comprising unique specifications, characteristics, capacities and functionality edging Emirates Glass products as flexible turnkey solutions. Armax – the anti-reflective glass and Smart- Lite – a switchable glass creating on-demand privacy have been the latest products on the portfolio.

Rizwanulla Khan, executive president, Emirates Glass, said: “In line with the current demand for our glass products, it is extremely satisfying to know that our production lines are running in full capacity to meet the high demand.”

“There has been substantial demand for our premium coated glass product range providing high efficiency and durability to meet the most stringent requirements for high performance window glass products. With Expo on close heels, UAE’s real estate sector has seen rampant projects and we have been active contributors with more than 40 per cent business generated from the UAE market,” Khan added.

GLASS BUSINESS GAINS 45PC

Earlier, the company said it has now raked in a 45 per cent market share, gaining a stronger foothold and giving a major impetus to the group’s growing glass business.

With breakthrough advances and innovative concepts in glass solutions, the glass business performance has registered a growth in revenue from Dh412 million ($112.17 million) to Dh562 million ($153.01 million) over the last five years, resulting in a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 35.8 per cent, said a statement from the company.

Glass provides premium quality glass solutions across a wide array of industries, from construction to automotive, at a total of five production facilities, incorporating glass companies namely Emirates Glass (EG), Lumi Glass (LG), Saudi American Glass (SAG) Emirates Insolaire and Emirates Float Glass (EFG).

The company continues embarking on aggressive expansion of its production capacities across various subsidiaries catering to the architectural and flat glass businesses.

In line with government initiatives promoting and encouraging manufacturing firms to seize available localisation opportunities, the companies under Glass LLC have intensified efforts, stimulating the local production capacity and producing a total of 14,157 million sq m in the past year.

Abdulaziz Bin Yagub Al Serkal, CEO, Industrial Platform, Dubai Investments, said: “Combining extensive experience with an ambitious vision, Glass LLC has adopted sustainable growth strategies and aims to accelerate the overall demand for glass as an energy efficient alternative for construction industry.”

“According to industry reports, the market for flat glass, extensively used in construction industry, is poised for solid growth with its sales likely to surpass the $130-billion mark by 2024,” he said.

Glass LLC’s glass companies are focused on catering to changing regulations and stringent performance criteria’s in construction design and continue augmenting their range of products. The companies are thriving to reinforce product range by strengthening existing line up with advanced products, complementing multifunctional offerings.

Emirates Glass has introduced new products and is aiming a market share of 35 per cent compared to 31 per cent last year. As the leading supplier of sputter-coated energy saving glass across the Gulf and with presence in markets across the globe, Emirates Glass currently operates a 60,000 sq m production facility in Al Quoz industrial area and a 32,825 sq m post-temperable glass coating line in Dubai Investments Park (DIP), operational since 2010.

Emirates Glass today supplies glass and glass solutions to GCC countries such as the Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait as well as to Azerbaijan, Australia, Kenya, Lebanon, Turkey, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, East and South Africa, and Canada.

This highlights the focus of the company to further enhance its geographic footprint and evolve as a leading provider of quality glass products globally.

The Emaar Skyview project in Dubai has been Emirates Glass’s latest phenomenal project alongside others namely Ministries Complex in Kuwait, The Glasshouse at The Quranic Park in Dubai, the Enterprise Command and Control Centre (EC3) for Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority; and the ITCC and MAAD towers in Saudi Arabia.

Redefining aesthetics and providing a new dimension to the usage of glass is Emirates Insolaire’s coloured solar panels. Emirates Insolaire’s coloured solar glass and coloured photovoltaic modules using the Kromatix patented technology provides coloured solar glass for both photovoltaic and thermal solar panels, providing a complete solar solution that can be adapted into any façade or roof of a residential or commercial building, and integrated into any architectural design.

Emirates Insolaire products have been installed across UAE on the kindergarten building for Dubai Municipality in Al Twar, Mirdif Hills project, Carrefour in Dubai Investments Park including projects in other emirates like Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah. Globally, the Kromatix technology has been implemented across projects in Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Germany and Brazil.

Glass LLC’s EFG subsidiary’s new manufacturing facility in Abu Dhabi, UAE, spread over 320,000 sq m of land is equipped with state-of-the-art machinery from Europe, US and Japan, achieving 100 per cent capacity utilisation, the highest benchmark for efficiency levels worldwide.

The hi-tech manufacturing unit currently holds a production capacity of 600 tonnes per day of high quality tinted, clear and pyrolytic coated float glass per day and over 190,000 tonnes of glass products per year.

EFG supplies its products to Architectural and Automotive glass sectors spanning over 65 countries including South America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. EFG has ambitious plans to double its production capacity in the near future with a new production line.

Saudi American Glass (SAG) and Lumiglass have also announced over 20 per cent increase in their capacities. SAG’s production capacity stands at 480,000 sq m of high-performance coated glass per annum, while Lumiglass production capacity of bullet resistant glass is at 2160 bullet proof sets per year.

Over the years, SAG has completed some landmark projects like Riyadh Park Mall, Bahrain World Trade Centre, King Fahad National Library to name a few.

Glass LLC’s diversified glass companies are defining the transition to a strategic growth in the long term, based on value-added products and services, it stated.