Dubai Investments (DI) has announced the launch of Glass LLC, its new corporate arm dedicated to meeting the growing needs of the regional glass industry. Glass LLC is also the first glass holding company in the Middle East.

Glass LLC will incorporate four DI subsidiary companies: Emirates Glass LLC, which is one of the largest processors of flat architectural glass in the region; Emirates Float Glass, the UAE’s first integrated glass manufacturing and processing facility being built in Abu Dhabi; Lumiglass Industries, makers of automotive and architectural laminated glass products; and the recently-acquired Saudi American Glass Company (SAGC), which is one of the Middle East’s largest glass manufacturers.
“The unprecedented growth in the regional real estate, automotive and industrial sectors has generated massive demand for high-performing, eco-friendly and technologically superior varieties of glass. Industry estimates put the size of the GCC glass market at 1.1 million tonnes. However, current supplies stand at 150,000 tonnes while future supplies are projected at 450,000 tonnes, leaving a shortfall of 650,000 tonnes,” said Khalid Kalban, managing director and CEO, Dubai Investments.
“Dubai Investments’ new arm, Glass LLC, has been formed in order to cater to the increasing demand for glass products in the region, particularly from the booming construction and real estate sector. In the UAE alone, the construction industry’s expenditure on infrastructure and real estate projects is expected to reach Dh850 billion ($231.4 billion) over the next five years. Similar large-scale projects are being built across most of the GCC states, which will result in projected expenditure of Dh31 billion on glass products alone,” he added.
Dubai Investments has considerable technological know-how and experience in glass-manufacturing and will exploit this expertise to bring innovative products into the market.  Glass LLC will focus on developing the regional glass industry and further contribute to DI’s expansion activities in 2007 as in the near future more glass companies will be added,” he observed.
Jerry Dowling, general manager, Glass LLC and Emirates Glass, said: “Glass LLC will bring Dubai Investments’ glass manufacturing facilities under one corporate umbrella, promoting co-ordination in their activities, monitoring expansion plans and regulating production output. These companies are making considerable investments in enhancing capacity and adding new products in order to meet the surging demand for glass products. The formation of Glass LLC will ensure smooth supplies and help to bring innovative products into the regional market, meeting the evolving needs of planners and developers and thus contributing to the growth of the glass industry in the Middle East.”
To meet the enormous challenge of such a rapidly growing market, Emirates Glass recently invested Dh100 million in a huge expansion programme to increase capacity in glass-tempering, double-glazing and cutting and to meet the demand by autumn of 2007 for highly complex glass types now commonly seen in airports, shopping centres, hotels etc. The company has already bagged projects for supplying million sq m of glass to projects in the region.
Dowling said: “Lumiglass plans to expand into manufacturing extra large windscreens for big trucks and buses and is developing a separate bullet-resistant glass manufacturing division. The company is also developing armoured cars in collaboration with the Steadfast Protection and Ultimate Armouring, both of the UAE, Iraq’s Absolute Armouring and Xtreme Defense Systems from Pakistan. Lumiglass caters mainly to markets in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Syria, Iraq, East Africa and Pakistan.”
Emirates Float Glass will have an annual production capacity of about 160,000 tonnes of various glass products. The plant will have a daily production capacity of 600 tonnes of clear molten glass  with the product mix matching the contemporary needs of the architectural, automotive and other segments.
Saudi American Glass Company is one of the Middle East’s largest glass manufacturers. It supplies more than 3 million metres of glass to the regional market annually, where demand for high performance glass at present stands at 11 million sq m against a supply of 2 million sq m. Dubai Investments’ acquisition of SAGC adds value to Glass LLC and will enable the holding company to extend its presence over a sizeable portion of the market once it is restructured by Dubai Investments.