São Paulo – Two Egyptian companies are for the first time at Glass South America, sector’s event taking place until Saturday (24th) in São Paulo, Brazil.
Sphinx Glass has already been exporting to Brazil for three years. The company manufactures float glass, but also patterned and reflective glasses. “Brazil has always been among [the company’s] main markets. It is a very large market for glasses and we are here to ensure our share in Brazil’s exports”, says Export representative Nadette Moussa.
She says that the figures change yearly, but Sphinx exports, in average, 2,000 mil tonnes of glass per month to Brazil. The buyers are large distributors, she says. According to the businesswoman, in 2012 the country accounted for 40% of Sphinx’s foreign sales.
Besides reaching potential buyers from Brazil, she points out the opportunity to contact importers from other neighbouring countries. “It is quite a promising event. We can meet not only people from Brazil, but also Chile, Colombia. It is a good event”, Moussa says.
The glasses manufactured by Sphinx may be used both for construction, as in buildings facades and interior partition, and for décor, shower stalls, tabletops and other uses. Besides Brazil, the company exports to countries in North Africa, Middle East, East Africa and East Europe.
Company Cairo Glass manufactures patterned and wired glasses. “We have over 14 designs”, explains Moustafa Esmat, vice-president of the company about patterned glass, a type of decorated glass. The company has already sold to Brazil twice, once in 2012 and another time this year. According to Esmat, knowing the national and local market better is the reason of coming to the fair.
“Brazil is a very large market, and that is why we came here. During these days, we are trying to figure out how much we can expand in this market”, says the businessman.
The company manufactures 240 tonnes of glass per day and around 56% of the production is intended to foreign sales. Among the buyers are countries such as France, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and Canada, besides the Middle Easter and North African nations.
Sector’s imports
Egypt is among Brazil’s main suppliers of glass, accounting for 5.9% of Brazilian imports. However this is not the only Arab country in the list of top exporters of glass to Brazil.
Saudi Arabia, third country in the list, supplies 12.1% of Brazilian glass demand, while the United Arab Emirates account for 6.3% of Brazil’s purchases. The largest supplier of Brazil is China (28.2%), followed by Mexico (21.4%). The data are from the Brazilian Association of the Flat. Glass Distributors and Processors (Abravidro, in the Portuguese acronym).
Glass South America brings 200 brands this year, 18% of this total are Foreigner brands. “The fair is a gateway to the Latin-American market. We have people from all over the world. You can see the Belgian wing, the Italian wing, we have people from Portugal, Egypt, and Turkey, from several countries”, says Ligia Amorim, director of NürnbergMesse, the event’s organizer company.
According to her, the fair attracts a lot of interest from foreign companies as it brings together many segments of the glass sector. “We deal with the technology of glassmaking machinery, companies which come here and process glass and offer thermal, brightness, safety treatments, several interesting factors,” she says.
By 2006, Brazil was mainly a glass exporter, but from 2007 on, the country has started to import more glass. According to data from the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), in 2013 alone, Brazil purchased abroad over de 607,000 tonnes of glass, while it sold only 71,000 tonnes.
“The domestic demand increased and there are few manufacturers here. It is a staple industry which demands a lot of investment, a lot of planning. That is why there is this huge gap and this change from exporter to importer”, explains Amorim.
Nonetheless, she stresses the advantages for foreign companies planning to set up in Brazil. “Brazil is a country of many opportunities for those companies seeking to expand business, to find the right partner to work here. I cannot imagine any large company coming here and regretting having come. It is only necessary to find the best way to operate. It is necessary to be braver and try to find new solutions to take part of the market”, she adds.
Service
Glass South America
Date: From May 21st to 24th 2014
Time: May 21st, 22nd and 23rd – from 12p.m to 7p.m.; May 24th – from10a.m. to 5p.m.
Place: Transamerica Expo Center – São Paulo
Av. Dr. Mário Villas Boas Rodrigues, 387 – São Paulo
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
