Brazilian glass very popular in Arab homes
Regional-Brazil, Business, 3/30/2006

The Middle East is the main market for export of household appliances made in Brazil by French group Saint-Gobain. The countries in the region represent over 40% of the foreign sales of baking trays, bowls, dishes, glasses, teacups and plates made by Saint-Gobain Vidros, formerly Companhia Vidreira Santa Marina.

The group also supplies the Arab market with flat and coloured glass, used in civil construction, through company Cebrace Cristal Plano.

Last year the company sold around 3,000 tons of glass to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. "This is a good performance when taking into consideration the current exchange rates and the large offer of Chinese glass at very aggressive prices," explained Marcello de Andrade, export analyst of the company flat glass division.

"The demand on the Arab market is mainly for products that have more seasonal availability, every 3 or 4 months. Even so, the annual performance has been constant and rising every year," pointed out Andrade.

According to Alexandro Santin, export analyst at the household product division, the glass products for household use made by the company are only made in Brazil and are exported to over 70 countries. "We have been exporting to Arab countries for 20 years, and the main importers are Saudi Arabia and Egypt. However, we also have sales to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan," stated Santin.

According to him, most of the sales are made through a local distributor. "Last year we had a representative, but now we only work with direct distributors, agents and clients," explained the analyst.

The group

Saint-Gobain was established in France in 1665, with the objective of producing the mirrors for Versailles Palace. In all these years, the company has developed other activities and spread to various countries, becoming a multinational group. Diversified and leading in its various activities, the company makes products like glass, wrought iron, plastic and ceramics.

The group came to Brazil in 1937, establishing offices in So Paulo. It is now present throughout the country and has 12 operation companies, 44 industrial units, 5 mines, 21 shops, being present in 42 cities and 9 states, employing 12,000 people.

The group's companies that are installed in Brazil are: Saint-Gobain Vidros (formerly Companhia Vidraria Santa Marina), Saint-Gobain Canalizao, Brasilit, Saint-Gobain Abrasivos, Saint-Gobain Cermicas e Plsticos, Saint-Gobain Quartzolit e Saint-Gobain Materiais Cermicos. Regarding Cebrace Cristal Plano, which is responsible for the flat glass division, it is a joint venture between Saint-Gobain and British group Pilkington, the owner of brand Blindex.

The origin of glass

There is no historical consensus about who discovered glass and when this happened. What is known is that the Egyptians, Syrians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, Greek and Romans have already worked with it.

Roman historian Pliny, in his work "Natural History," attributes the discovery of glass to Phoenician merchants who arrived on the coast of Syria and, needing fire, improvised cookers, using blocks of saltpetre on the sand. After some time, they noticed a liquid and shiny substance running out of the fire, and solidifying immediately: glass. The Phoenicians then dedicated themselves to the reproduction of that phenomenon, finally reaching usable materials.

The people of Mesopotamia and the Egyptians already knew the basic technique for the production of glass in around 2700 b.C. In archaeological excavations in the outskirts of Baghdad, the current capital of Iraq, a blue glass cylinder was found, dating back to that time. In Egypt, the most remote example of glass is also a dark blue fragment, a kind of amulet, where the name of Pharaoh Antef II, a pharaoh of the 11th Dynasty, is written.

It was in Egypt, in the year 1500 b.c., that the art of glass flourished. Artists at the service of the Pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty knew the formula for a malleable glass paste, with which they made beads of glass and personal adornments.

The Egyptians also seem to have been the first to use glass in the production of packages like jars and bowls, and of recipients for cosmetics, balms and pots for perfumes. Among them, the most common were alabaster, first in the form of tubes, and later in curved moulds, with two small handles. In alabaster they kept kohl, paint to darken the eyelids and bring out the shine of their eyes, used by men and women in the past throughout the Middle East.

Those interested can contact the company at: www.saint-gobain.com.br

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