Grant Thornton to oversee administration of collapsed Oceania Glass
Australia’s largest glass maker, Oceania Glass, has collapsed following mounting losses and a failed bid to compete with cheap imports from China. Grant Thornton has been appointed as administrator of the company.
A 169-year-old glass manufacturer, Oceania Glass plays a key role in Australia’s glass supply industry. The company specialises in float glass, coated glass and laminated glass, providing its products to builders, architecture groups and clients across Australia.
After warning of the impact of cheap imports and its inability to be price-competitive with a homegrown business model, Oceania Glass has now been forced to enter voluntary administration, with a view to selling to a buyer. According to reports, the company owes creditors $125 million-plus.
Oceania Glass, which employs much of its 261 workforce at a manufacturing plant in the outer Melbourne suburb of Dandenong, will continue to trade during the voluntary administration period.
Restructuring experts Lisa Gibb, Said Jahani and Matt Byrnes of Grant Thornton have been appointed as Joint and Several Voluntary Administrators. They are currently undertaking an urgent financial review of the business and are seeking to launch an accelerated sale process.
“We understand the role Oceania Glass plays in the Australian construction sector. In continuing to trade the business with a view to a going concern sale, we will work to mitigate the potential disruption to customers and the broader sector,” they stated.
“If an appropriate buyer cannot be found during the voluntary administration period and the Administrators are faced with the difficult decision to shut down the business, we believe this period will allow customers to make alternative sourcing arrangements and significantly reduce disruption to the broader construction industry.”
A first meeting with creditors of Oceania Glass has been scheduled for coming Friday.
Call for protection
Prior to its collapse, Oceania Glass submitted to the Anti-Dumping Commission that the Australian industry had suffered “material injury” as a result of clear laminate glass imported from Thailand and China at dumped and subsidised prices.
The Commissioner launched an investigation last year as a result but the issue is yet to be resolved, joint administrator Byrnes said. “The company’s view is they need better protection by the Government that would enable them to be more price-competitive. We’re still working through all the reasons for Oceania Glass’s collapse – but that’s likely to be one of them.”
In reaction to the news, South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance chief executive Honi Walker said that the government should be doing more to protect the interests of Australian manufacturers.
“We simply can’t compete on price from China and other Asian countries. The loss of sovereign capability on an essential product would cause homes to cost more and take longer to build with unsafe overseas glass. Imported steel from China does not meet Australian Standards and was the reason the new stand at GMBH Stadium collapsed in 2023 and the Kew Recreational Centre’s roof caved in.”
Walker called for the reinstatement of federal anti-dumping laws to stop “cheaply, poorly made products being dumped in Australia and used on vital public projects.”
