A Frail Decorative Glass Industry Sees Furnace Idled, Awaits Better Market Conditions

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Durand Glass Manufacturing Company, Incorporated (DGMC) (Millville, New Jersey) was built in 1982. With production capacity at one million finished items per year (58,000 tons) and employees numbering over 900, this plant was first conceived and created to make possible the promotion of the ARC brands in the United States. Manufacturing pressed and blown glass, ceramic tableware and coarse earthenware kitchen articles, products that might be considered more suitable to American consumer preferences. Most of the Luminarc glassware sold in the United States is made by in the New Jersey plant and sold by ARC International North America.

DGMC emerged from a 180-year old tradition established by its parent company, ARC International Group (NYSE:ARK ) (Arques, France). Established in 1825 by the Durand family as a traditional glassmaking workshop, ARC International is considered a leader in tableware. The group is active on five continents through production sites, distribution subsidiaries, coordinating offices and its own distribution network. Originally founded in Arques, in the Pas-de-Calais département, ARC International remains a 100% family-owned company and employs 19,000 people around the world and distributes tableware items in more than 160 countries. Worldwide they can produce six million items per day.

But a strong and proud history cannot compete with poor market conditions and rising energy costs. It is high energy costs in the United Kingdom that are being sited as one of the reasons to close the Arc International Cookware (AIC) plant at Sunderland in the Northeast of England. The plant remains the United Kingdom’s last commercial glassware factory, and with its closure the area will experience a loss of hundreds of jobs. Production will be suspended by the end of September 2007.

The New Jersey plant finds itself trying to contend with weak market conditions, in an ever-changing market. In the past few years, they have invested millions of dollars in two regenerative container glass furnace rebuilds, but recently decided that a third furnace that was scheduled for a rebuild early this year could lay fallow for the time being. It has become a balancing act of sorts to provide enough products for the buying public while allowing the third furnace to wait on the needed rebuild to save money in the short term. If the market demands and the third furnace is brought back into production, it would be six to eight months from that point before the needed rebuild would have to be done.

Durand Glass Manufacturing is one of eight companies in New York and New Jersey that were recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as partners in a collective pledge to eliminate more than five million pounds of toxic chemicals by 2008. Durand uses lead-free paints to help achieve that goal of reducing the lead used in its glass decorating process by 80%. By completely phasing out the use of lead paint, 24,000 pounds of lead will be eliminated from its finished products. Alas, good, environmentally right-minded and conscientious neighbors don’t translate to sales.

In the past five years, Industrial Info has reported on a number of glassware and decorative glassware plants closing. The Carr Lowrey Glass Company in business since 1927 closed its doors in 2003. Corning saw its Greenville, Ohio and Steuben, New York plants close in the past few years. Thompson, Incorporated out of Circleville, Ohio closed its Glassware plant in 2004 after 35 years, and Repla, Limited out of Oakville, Ontario drew to a close 40 years of decorated glassware production in 2005.

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