SFS Paraćin glass products already with domestic customers

Domestic Serbian customers received their first ordered products from SFS Paraćin after the recent trial run with its new furnace.

The first trial production of glass packaging from the new furnace was launched on May 7, 2024, at the Serbian Glass Factory (SFS) in Paraćin.

Domestic Serbian customers have already received their first ordered products.

The optimal production capacity of the furnace is 270 tons per day, and currently, approximately 350 pallets are being filled daily on three production lines.

Deliveries have begun, which is important for establishing self-sufficiency, as the Serbian market almost entirely depends on the import of glass and glass packaging.

In the coming months, production capacities will further increase due to automation.

After the Vaider Group acquired SFS Paraćin at the end of 2022, it was necessary to completely halt production due to the obsolescence of the old furnaces.

A year and a half of renovation work followed, as well as the implementation of strategic investments worth €50 million for the modernisation of production, supported by the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

Upon the completion of the first investment cycle at the beginning of May this year, the first trial production of glass packaging from the new furnace successfully commenced at SFS Paraćin.

Peter Čas, General Director of SFS Paraćin and the Vaider Group, said: “We have introduced new technologies, which our employees quickly adopted, which was not taken for granted, as this involves fundamentally more advanced technology and processes than those that existed at SFS Paraćin for decades.”

The AIS production machines, which turn molten glass into bottles, can produce over 300 bottles per minute.

They can produce a wide range of glass packaging – from small bottles of 10 ml to large jars and bottles of 2.5 litres and more.

At the SFS Paraćin plant, they can recycle 200 tons of glass daily, with most of the raw materials coming from Serbia.

Mr Čas said: “Each shift has about 120 employees, and 13 trucks – approximately 350 pallets of products – are shipped daily, with each pallet weighing an average of 700 kilograms.

“We see a lot of additional development potential, as we want to establish SFS Paraćin within the Vaider Group as a key manufacturer of glass packaging in Serbia and Southeastern Europe, thus not only reviving the Serbian glass industry but making it an export champion.”