Glassware - Market Report 2005
Key Note estimates that the value of retail sales of glass tableware and ornamental ware dipped slightly in 2005 (to £355m) in a highly competitive market in which manufacturers, facing oversupply, have had to cut margins and retailers have had to discount. Five rises in the Bank of England's base rate in a year (November 2003 to August 2004) took it to 4.75%, the highest level since 2001. So effective was this in slowing down escalating house prices and consumer spending, that the rate was subsequently reduced by a quarter of a percent in August 2005 — the first change to interest rates since August 2004 — amid fears of a real economic slowdown. According to National Statistics, the value of goods sold in the UK in September 2005 dropped as nervous retailers slashed their prices. The discounts had some success in that they tempted consumers sufficiently for volume, but not value, sales to go up by 0.7% during the month — twice the amount expected — but October was still the fifth month in a row of falling sales by value.
In addition to the retailing market, the UK glass manufacturing sector is also fiercely competitive and, since 2004, two of its best-known brands have fallen into foreign hands: the US company Enesco Inc has acquired Royal Brierley Crystal and Dartington Crystal. The manufacturing sector now also has to contend with an unrelenting increase in cheap imports from countries with low production costs with which the UK industry simply cannot compete. The UK, therefore, has a trade deficit in glassware and one that increased slightly from 2003 to 2004, when a fall in the value of imported glassware was insufficient to compensate for a 10.2% decrease in the value of UK exports of glassware in 2004. Most imported glassware originates from the factory of the world, the People's Republic of China, but Eastern European countries, particularly Poland, recently admitted to the EU, are also a threat. Another supplier of importance, Turkey, has now entered formal talks to join the EU and, should this occur, will be in a position to make further inroads into the markets of Western Europe.
Household income has risen over the past 35 years, although income inequality has widened. However, household penetration of glassware is high, with a recent Target Group Index (TGI) survey commissioned by BMRB International Ltd finding that more than three-quarters of households possess some glassware. Replacement is fairly frequent, but the availability of cheap, functional glassware means that value growth of retail sales is limited. Furthermore, it is demand for fine crystal — on which the UK glass manufacturing industry has traditionally been dependent — that suffers in times of any economic downturn. In addition, today's young consumers often do not perceive crystal stemware as relevant to their lifestyles, and manufacturers are increasingly turning their attention to more contemporary ranges and sourcing from overseas. Mention has already been made of the troubled high street, and the outlook for the all-important Christmas trading period in 2005 is not looking promising. Both consumers and manufacturers face rising energy prices that always have a swift effect on the economy. In this rather gloomy environment, it is not anticipated that the value of retail sales of glassware will be much more than static between 2005 and 2007.
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