The new president of O-I Asia-Pacific, Sergio Galindo, has hit the ground running since arriving Down Under to take up his new role, having spent his first weeks in the job on a flying visit to the company’s many sites across the region.
The new chief, however, managed to take time in between his travels to take questions from PKN regarding his new role, and his thoughts on the future of the company’s operations in the region.
Not surprisingly, the nation’s new carbon tax, in operation since July, weighed heavily on his thoughts. Galindo, who took over the helm of the local operation following the move of his predecessor, Steve Bramlage, to O-I’s corporate headquarters in the United States as chief financial officer, told PKN the tax would inevitably hits its costs, with the company already having announced it would pass on some of these expenses to customers.
“Despite the glass manufacturing sector in Australia being classified as moderately emissions intensive and receiving 66 per cent free allocation, the carbon tax clearly represents a rise in O-I Australia’s production costs,” Galindo said.
He said, however, he was hopeful the company’s previous actions in reducing its energy footprint could mitigate some of these price rises.
“Prior to the introduction of the carbon tax, O-I Australia has been working hard to manage and mitigate our emissions at our Australian operations,” he said.
“Underpinning this work, O-I globally has a commitment to reduce energy use by 50 per cent and direct CO2 emissions by 65 per cent by 2017.
“These activities are a key component of the company’s sustainability platform which also includes lightweighting, increased recycled glass (cullet) use and footprint optimisation.”
He said the company would also continue investigating further areas for rationalisation of its Australian operations. Earlier this year it already announced the closure of one of its three glass furnaces in Melbourne, a move that reduced its workforce by 70 people.
“We're continuing to review and reassess our business to ensure it is best matched to market conditions and able to serve our customers most effectively,” Galindo said.
“We have the opportunity to further improve the productivity of the region’s plants and I place immense importance on being customer-focused.
“I’m certainly looking forward to building on the successful relationships we’ve developed with customers throughout the region over many years.”
