China's plate glass industry posts stable growth in first three quarters

BEIJING, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- China's plate glass industry registered stable development in the first three quarters amid efforts of deepening the supply-side structural reform, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

During the January-September period, the output of plate glass totaled 700 million weight cases, up 5.4 percent year on year, the ministry said in an online statement.

In breakdown, tempered glass, laminated glass and insulating glass reported output growth of 5.5 percent, 0.2 percent and 7.1 percent respectively on a year-on-year basis.

The average factory prices of plate glass stood at 75.2 yuan (about 10.68 U.S. dollars) per weight case during the period, a 2-percent decline from a year ago, MIIT data showed.

Despite the downward pressure, the sector's operating revenue extended to 60.5 billion yuan, up 9.3 percent year on year.

However, the plate glass industry reported decline in realized profits and sales margin compared with last year, according to the ministry.

The sector registered growth in both import and export from January to August. The export volume of plate glass reached 1.26 million tonnes with a value of 1.05 billion U.S. dollars, up 5.4 percent year on year.