Vetropack has warned of job cuts and shutdowns in 2024 as a result of the glass downturn.

In its latest financial note it said that 2024 is likely to be a difficult year and that it will focus on reducing costs.

The Swiss-headquartered glass manufacturer said the downturn began in the second half of 2023 as a result of a drop in consumer demand.

At CHF 898.8 million (US$1.01 billion) net sales from goods and services were more or less the same as in the prior year. 

It said: “2023 will go down in our records as a difficult fiscal year. Especially in the second half of 2023, this situation confronted our group with a number of challenges to which we responded by very swiftly adjusting our production capacities. 

“We can already see that 2024 is following on seamlessly from the weak second half of the preceding year. 

“We will therefore be focusing on our efficiency even more intensively than in 2023: alongside proactive management of our capacities, this means that we will concentrate on reducing costs. 

“This also applies to human resources, and in particular to restraint regarding the creation of new positions as well as new appointments to existing positions. 

"We will also defer planned investments in our plants as far as possible.

“Irrespective of these measures, we reserve the option of temporarily shutting down further lines and furnaces at individual sites if a change in the market situation necessitates such steps.”

It is already reviewing the closure of its production site in St-Prex, Switzerland, probably in the second half of 2024. 

It said: “Should this come to pass, it would be a drastic step for us. St-Prex is not merely our only plant in our home market of Switzerland: it is also the Vetropack group's parent plant. 

“For our employees in St-Prex, this would mean that the majority of their jobs would cease to exist."