Asia Pacific >> Regional Overview
O-I is the leading glass packaging supplier in Asia Pacific with ten glass plants and one mould shop located in Australia, New Zealand, China and Indonesia.
The people at O-I Asia Pacific deliver excellence in quality, service and innovation to ensure glass provides the perfect package to appeal to consumers and expand customer brands.
O-I Asia Pacific understands the consumer and translates this knowledge into a wide ranging and attractive product portfolio which meets the needs of the food, beverage and pharmaceutical markets.
O-I's success derives from continually challenging its people to improve their ability to design, produce and deliver consumer-preferred packaging for customers.
The Asia-Pacific region represents over 10% of O-I worldwide sales, generating revenue in excess of $780 million USD. For an overview of the benefits of glass packaging, click here to view the brochure Glass is the answer.
History
O-I Asia Pacific traces its glass container manufacturing history back well over a century. The Melbourne Glass Bottle Works Company was established in 1872 in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia by two pharmacists --- Alfred Felton and Fredrick Sheppard Grimwade. Soon afterwards, the company moved to Spotswood, near Melbourne, and changed its name to Australian Glass Manufacturers (AGM).
The company became a major entity when it merged with six other glass companies in 1916. In 1939, the company changed its name to Australian Consolidated Industries (ACI). By this time glass container manufacturing plants were established in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and New Zealand.
Glassware and lightingware were also produced at some plants. Hand blown production continued for lightingware until 1966 when automation was used on remaining lightingware products in Sydney, Australia.
ACI Crown Glassware was established in 1926 and as an importer and marketer of glassware until the business was sold in 2000.
After World War II, ACI expanded and diversified. In 1948, Singapore Glass was established --- the first joint venture outside Australia and New Zealand. Other glass container plants were subsequently established in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1968 (now trading under separate ownership as KL Glass); Jakarta, Indonesia in 1973; and Lae, Papua New Guinea in 1973 (now closed). For many years ACI also held equity in a glass container plant in Bangkok, Thailand.
In 1993, ACI entered a joint venture in Shanghai, China, followed by joint ventures in Guangzhou in 1994 and Tianjin in 2005.
In 1988, ACI International was acquired by the Melbourne-based BTR Nylex Limited. The major shareholder in BTR Nylex was BTR plc of London and the remaining shares were acquired by BTR plc in 1996.
ACI Packaging purchased Smorgon Glass at Penrith in western Sydney in 1991 and subsequently closed its Sydney Waterloo site a few years later. Also in 1991, Rockware Glass in the UK was added to the glass container operations managed by ACI Packaging and the company also expanded its PET container business.
In early 1998, ACI's glass and plastics businesses were acquired by Owens-Illinois, Inc. of the United States. The entities had worked together under a technical agreement for almost thirty years. Following the acquisition of ACI by Owens-Illinois, ACI was responsible for managing the Indian plants in Pondicherry, Rishikesh and Pune until their sale in 2001, and the Wuhan plant in China.
In 2004, ACI sold most of its plastics and closures business.
In 2005, Owens-Illinois and all its subsidiaries around the world changed their trading names to O-I.