Glass products play a vital role in daily life and socio-economic development. With advancements in daily-use glassware and optical glass technology, the market continues to expand steadily. In 2022, China’s glass products market exceeded RMB 400 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.17%. By segment, optical glass was the largest market, accounting for 17.39%, followed by daily-use glass products, mirrors, and similar items.

    According to the National Bureau of Statistics, by 2022, the number of large-scale enterprises in China’s glass products industry reached 2,321, an increase of 86 from the previous year. The industry’s sales revenue reached RMB 513.881 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4.94%; total output value reached RMB 541.957 billion, up 5.14%; total assets amounted to RMB 422.848 billion, up 5.38%; while industry profits fell by 10.25% to RMB 31.402 billion.

    From 2016 to 2022, China’s glass product output increased from 37.8687 million tons to 39.9975 million tons, while demand grew from 30.4749 million tons to 31.4639 million tons. In terms of imports and exports, China’s glass industry is export-oriented, though some imports still occur. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China exported 8.7572 million tons of glass products in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 2.52%, while imports fell sharply by 36.85% to 223,600 tons.

    Domestic glass product prices vary significantly due to factors such as raw material and energy costs, product types, application fields, product grades, industrial competition, and downstream market demand. In recent years, the average market price of glass products in China has remained relatively stable. In 2022, the average sales price was approximately RMB 12,800 per ton, a slight increase of 1.6% year-on-year.

    The upstream segment of the glass products industrial chain primarily consists of raw materials and energy. Key raw materials include quartz sand, borax, boric acid, barite, barium carbonate, limestone, feldspar, and soda ash, while energy sources mainly comprise fuel and electricity. As a fundamental material, glass is widely used in real estate, transportation, photovoltaic power generation, automobile manufacturing, electronics manufacturing, and interior decoration.

    Soda ash constitutes about 30% of glass raw materials, helping regulate alkalinity and control the chemical composition and properties of glass. In recent years, China’s soda ash output has shown an overall growth trend. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s soda ash production reached 29.2021 million tons in 2022, a slight increase of 0.24% year-on-year.