Date: 18 March 2009
The way into the workshop is full of heaped up, unsold glass. The 120 tonne/day production line stopped running five years ago.
More than 2mil sq m of glass, worth VND50bil, is yet to find buyers. The number of laid-off workers has reached 326, or a half of the total staffs of the company.
Deputy Director of Viglacera Dap Cau Company Nguyen Manh Chan said that in order to survive, his workers now have to provide some services for construction works. The company now still has to pay VND7bil a year in interest on the loan it took out to purchase the production line which is sitting idle.
VFG, the floating glass joint venture between Vietnam and Japan, is facing the same problem. The large storage facility of the company is full of glass. The labels on the glass products show that they were made in mid 2008.
A staff of VFG revealed that more than 10mil sq m of glass worth $20mil is piled up at the company. The company is running its production lines at only 50% capacity.
Inability to sell products is the greatest worry of all glass producers, from VIFG Binh Duong, VGI Vung Tau, to Viet Phuong and Ky Anh. “If the situation does not improve, glass companies will have to stop production,” said Dang Hoang Tung, Deputy Trade Director under Viglacera Corporation.
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