Local glass tableware gains popularity

Locally manufactured glass tableware is replacing imports, helping the country save foreign currency. 
Nasir Glassware and Tube Industries Ltd that was set up at a cost of Tk 1,100 crore has shown its strength in meeting local demand and exporting its products.

“We recently started exporting glass tableware to India and Nepal,” said Nasir Uddin Biswas, chairman and managing director of the company that makes products including tumblers, cups, saucers, bowls, mugs and dishes.
Nasir Glassware entered the market in March 2014 and now has the capacity to produce 100 tonnes of glassware a day.

The company is running below capacity amid competition as some unscrupulous businesses are importing the products through under-invoicing. 
The demand for glass tableware in Bangladesh is one crore pieces a month, the value of which is Tk 100 crore-Tk 120 crore, according to industry insiders. 

Nasir Glassware currently meets 50 percent of the local demand; GMS, another local factory, meets 15 percent of the demand, and the rest 35 percent are imports.
The demand for glassware is increasing steadily with changes in lifestyles. New hotels and restaurants are being set up; the millions of roadside teashops are also raising the demand for these products.

“Sales of teacups are rising fast. Nearly 40 percent of our total sales come from teacups,” said Biswas. The demand for glasses and mugs is also increasing, he added.
Factories have to import most of the raw materials. Scarcity of gas is also pushing the production cost up.
“Furnace oil and diesel cost four times and 12 times higher than that of gas,” said Biswas.

The imports from China through under-invoicing are damaging growth of the local industries, he said.
The import duty on one kilogram of raw glass is 80 cents, according to the customs house in Chittagong Port.
“We have opened a probe into the allegation of import of raw glass through under-invoicing,” said an official of the customs house in Chittagong, asking not to be named.