Şişecam inaugurated Manfredonia plant with an opening ceremony

Şişecam Group, a global player in the glass industry, has completed its renovation and modernization investment in the Manfredonia plant, the second flat glass investment in Italy, in record time. The inauguration ceremony of the facility, which had become operational two months earlier than planned, was attended by Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy and Murat Salim Esenli, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey in Italy, as well as local government representatives and the employees.

Italian Prime Minister Conte said in his speech at the ceremony that as the government they always support the foreign investments. “When we refer Şişecam Group, we are talking about an international company which is the leader of flat glass market in Europe and also one of the top five of the world. Şişecam has come with a sustainable project both economically and environmentally, and taken an important step by putting this facility into operation.  Şişecam Group will also be pleased with this investment,” Conte said.

Şişecam Group Vice Chairman and CEO Prof. Ahmet Kırman stated in his speech that they continue to create social and economic value in all geographies in which they operate. “Today, operating in 14 countries on four continents, Şişecam sustains its growth in line with a high performance-based investment policy. Thanks to the Manfredonia plant, our Group, one of the largest Turkish investors in Italy, has become the country's largest manufacturer in architectural glass market and consolidated its leadership in Europe in flat glass production,” Kırman said.

Şişecam Group, one of the leading global players in business lines including all main areas of glass industry such as flat glass, glassware, glass packaging and glass fiber, as well as soda and chromium compounds, launched the Manfredonia plant, its second flat glass investment in Italy, in record time. The Group, which had acquired and incorporated the Porto Nogaro plant in northern Italy in 2016, also completed the acquisition of the Manfredonia plant in Monte Sant'Angelo in June last year.

Thanks to the renovation and modernization investment done by Şişecam Group in a short time, the flat glass production facility had become operational two months earlier than planned. The inauguration ceremony held on 30 November 2019 was attended by Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy; Murat Salim Esenli, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey in Italy; Michele Emiliano, President of Puglia Region; and Pierpaolo D’Arienzo, Mayor of Monte Sant’Angelo, as well as the guests and employees.

Italian Prime Minister Conte said in his speech at the ceremony that as the government they always support the foreign investments. “When we refer Şişecam Group, we are talking about an international company which is the leader of flat glass market in Europe and also one of the top five of the world. Şişecam has come with a sustainable project both economically and environmentally, and taken an important step by putting this facility into operation.  Şişecam Group will also be pleased with this investment,” Conte said.

Şişecam Group Vice Chairman and CEO Prof. Ahmet Kırman, in his opening speech as the host of the ceremony, stated that they continue to create social and economic value in all geographies in which they operate. “In line with its high performance-based investment policy, Şişecam Group sustains its growth in order to become one of the top three global manufacturers in its core business lines. Today, with our recent soda investment in the US, we operate in 14 countries on four continents, deliver our innovative products to our customers in more than 150 countries, and employ 22,000 people. In terms of production capacity, our Group ranked among the top three in glassware, top five in flat glass and glass packaging, top seven in synthetic soda production, and the first in chromium chemicals worldwide,” Kırman said.

Şişecam Group's investments in Italy exceed EUR 150 million

“Şişecam Group is one of the largest Turkish investors in Italy. And Italy is a special country for Şişecam with a population of more than 60 million, an economy reaching USD 2 trillion, and a long-established industrial history. The total amount of our investments in the country has exceeded EUR 150 million as of today. Our Group operates in Italy with investments in chemicals, glassware and flat glass. Thanks to our operations in flat glass and exports from Italy, we aim to escalate the total sales revenues of our operations in Italy to EUR 200 million in 2020 and to increase our contribution to the Italian economy,” Kırman added.

Kırman continued: “We have launched the Manfredonia plant with the renovation and modernization investment that we have realized in a short time. Together with additional investments, we have invested more than EUR 55 million for Manfredonia, including the acquisition value and working capital. We have not only rebuilt the furnace with an advanced design in the facility opened today, but also managed to activate the coating and lamination lines. As Europe's largest flat glass producer, we are proud to commission Manfredonia, our second flat glass production facility in Italy and third in the European Union, in a very short time as promised.”

Şişecam Group’s flat glass operations in Europe will benefit strategically

“We believe that the competence in our flat glass operations in Italy would continue to increase with the Manfredonia plant. Both with its geographical location and its annual production capacity of 190,000 tons, the Manfredonia plant will provide strategic advantage in terms of our flat glass manufacturing operations in Europe. With the addition of this capacity, our flat glass production capacity in Italy reaches 410,000 tons annually. Thanks to the technological knowledge and manufacturing power of Şişecam, this plant put into operation has a lamination line of 3.5 million square meters/year and a coating line of 5 million square meters/year. Thus, our product range will expand further. With the Manfredonia plant, we have become the largest manufacturer in the architectural glass market in Italy and consolidated our leadership in Europe in flat glass production,” Kırman concluded.