Consol Glass has reignited furnace #1 at its Clayville plant, located north of Johannesburg, after a furnace rebuild during March and April.
The furnace has been idle since the rebuild was completed, due to the alcohol ban in South Africa which was imposed firstly from March, before ending in August.
Consol Glass aim to have the furnace ready for full production by the end of September.
The rebuilt furnace is expected to increase production at Consol by 12%.
The commissioning will include a new first for Africa - an Emhart 16-section tandem machine.
Glass International recently spoke to Dale Carolin, Marketing and Commercial Senior Executive at Consol Glass, and a feature-length article on the alcohol ban and how the company has been affected will appear in the September issue of Glass International magazine, out later this week.
