High demand throughout the UK Glazing market pressures IGU manufacturers and supply chains.

With two of the three UK float glass production lines undergoing rebuilds, glass supply is reaching critical levels across all market sectors. All IGU manufacturers are on reduced allocation throughout the summer and are in high demand. This has resulted in extended lead times, partial factory closures, and non-supply of glass to glazing companies.

Here at Regency, we have worked with Saint-Gobain to minimise disruption. The first half of 2021 saw us work with 5-day lead times. Due to continued high demand and the reduced allocation, we have had to extend glass lead times to 8 days for the third quarter and will review this later in the summer.

Saint-Gobain reports that the rebuild is on target, but the import of glass to fulfil the allocation cannot be increased. Therefore, the UK supply is at the agreed levels, with no extra glass available.

It's crucial that we all continue to work to GGF visual guide and conserve glass as much as possible. Quick turn round units must be for absolute emergencies only. Glass that exhibits minor defects needs to be glazed and replaced once the supply is back to normal; customers would have a unit in place and help us to conserve glass.

It's important to note that most requests for quick units would be refused as these units are cut on a 'hand cut basis' and are not part of a production scheduled batch. The hand-cut process wastes over 50% of sheet glass that cannot be used for further production, significantly impacting our resources. Scheduled batches utilize a bring forward system, and waste is less than 3% across the production spectrum.