Murano glass blowing model shattered by soaring methane prices

VENICE, Italy – (AP) – Murano glassblowers have survived plagues and pandemics. They switched to highly prized artistic creations to outperform the low-cost competition from Asia. But soaring energy prices are shattering their economic model.

The dozens of kilns that remain on the Lagoon Island where Venetian rulers transferred glassblowing 700 years ago must burn 24 hours a day, or the expensive crucible inside the kilns will shatter. But the price of the methane that powers the furnaces has quintupled in the global market since October 1, which means glassblowers face some losses on the orders they are striving to fill, at least in the future. predictable.

“People are desperate,” said Gianni De Checchi, president of the Venice Craftsmen Association Confartiginato. “If this continues like this, and we do not find solutions to the sudden and abnormal gas prices, the entire Murano glass sector will be seriously threatened.

A mid-sized glassblowing company like Simone Cenedese’s consumes 12,000 cubic meters (420,000 cubic feet) of methane per month to keep its seven furnaces at temperatures above 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit) 24 hours a day. They only stop once a year for annual maintenance in August.

Its monthly bills normally range from 11,000 euros to 13,000 euros per month, on a fixed-price consortium contract that expired on September 30. Now exposed to market volatility, Cenedese expects methane costs to rise to 60,000 euros ($ 70,000) in October, as the natural gas market is rocked by increased Chinese demand, uncertain Russian supply and inventory disturbing Europeans.

Craftsmen like Cenedese must now take into account an insurmountable increase in energy costs as they fill orders that had promised to get them out of the pandemic crisis that paralyzed the sector in 2020.

“We cannot increase the prices that have already been set. … This means that for at least two months we are forced to work at a loss, ” said Cenedese, a third generation glassblower who took over the business his father started. “We sell home decorations, not necessities, which means if the prices are not affordable, obviously there will be no more orders.”

Cenedese, like others on the island, is considering closing one of its ovens to deal with the crisis. It will cost 2000 euros for the broken crucible. It will also slow down production and put back orders at risk.

Its five glassblowers move with tacit choreographed precision to fill an order for 1,800 Christmas decorations speckled with golden glitter for Switzerland.

We start the process with a melted drop heated to red at the end of a baguette that he rolls on a gold leaf, applying it evenly before giving the shape to the maestro, who then reheats it in an oven before gently blow into the wand. to create a perfect orb. It’s always red when he cuts it off the wand, and another glassblower grabs it with teeth to add the finishing touch, a sharp end created from a bit of molten glass applied by an apprentice.

As this dance progresses another begins, swaying and swaying through the empty spaces. Together they can make 300 ornaments a day, working from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“No machine can do what we do,” said Maestro Davide Cimarosti, 56, who has worked as a glassblower for 42 years.

Decades ago, Murano glassblowers switched from wood-fired ovens, which created uneven results, to methane, which burns at temperatures high enough to create the delicate crystal clarity that makes their creations so prized. And that’s the only gas glassblowers are allowed to use, by law. They are caught in a global Catch-22 of raw materials.

For now, artisans are hoping the international market will calm down by the end of the year, although some analysts believe volatility could persist until spring. If so, the damage to the island’s economy and to individual businesses could be profound.

The government in Rome has offered relief to Italian families facing high energy prices, but so far nothing substantial to Murano glassblowers, whose small size and energy intensity make them particularly vulnerable. The artisans lobby is meeting with members of parliament next week with the aim of asking for direct government help, which De Checchi says is possible under new EU rules put in place after the pandemic.

Beyond the economic losses, the islanders fear losing a tradition that has made their island synonymous with artistic excellence.

Already, the sector has grown from an industry with thousands of workers in the 1960s and 1970s to a network of small and medium-sized craft enterprises, mostly employing some 300 glassblowers in total. The tradition of glassblowing in Venice dates back 1,200 years, and in Murano it has been passed down from father to son for generations. But even at its small size and despite its creative rewards, it struggles to attract young people to work in workshops where summer temperatures can reach 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit).

“The value of this tradition, history and culture is invaluable, it goes beyond the financial value of the glass industry in Murano,” said Luciano Gambaro, co-owner of Gambaro & Tagliapietra. “Over 1,000 years of cultivation can’t stop with a gas problem.

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