Wine and spirits help boost O-I volumes by 3% in 2015

Volumes of wine, spirits, food and non-alcoholic beverages glass packaging all grew globally in 2015, statedOwens-Illinois (O-I) in its full year financials.

The world’s largest container glassmaking company reported that global beer glass packaging volumes fell 1% due to a decline in mainstream beer. Shipments into craft and premium beer expanded in 2015.

Overall, global volumes were up 3% compared to the prior year. Excluding the acquisition of Vitro's food and beverage business, volumes were on par with 2014.

CEO Andres Lopez said the company continued its initiatives to improve performance. 

“Our work to date has already begun to deliver tangible benefits as evidenced by more consistent production as the year progressed. North America has recovered exceptionally well through the year and we will leverage our learnings to improve performance in Europe.

"Looking ahead, we expect that trends in the majority of our end markets will remain stable in 2016 and O-I will increasingly benefit from our growing exposure to US beer imports and the Mexican domestic market." 

Initiatives that will increase profitability in 2016 include maximising the value of the acquired business, improving its end-to-end supply chain performance, and reducing costs through increased organisational effectiveness and spending discipline.

In 2015, Asia Pacific volumes declined in the low single digits as the planned contraction of sales volume in China was partially offset by favourable beer and wine volumes in Australia in the second half of the year. In Latin America, sales were down in the low single digits, driven entirely by Brazil.

Segment operating profit was $740 million in 2015, compared with $908 million in the prior year. More than 80% of the decline was due to unfavourable currency translation.