a leading American and international producer of coatings, flat glass, chemicals, and chemical products. Its headquarters are in Pittsburgh, Pa.

The company was incorporated in 1883 as the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company at a time when European producers had a virtual monopoly on the production of plate glass, and that year it constructed the first commercially successful plate-glass factory in the United States, at Creighton, Pa. By 1900 the company had become the largest maker of plate glass in the United States, and technological innovations had helped make it a major producer of window and automotive glass as well by the late 1920s. The company also began to make automotive lacquer paints, and in the 1950s it developed the first latex-based interior paints and began to produce fibreglass.

PPG now provides glass and other products to the automotive and building industries. The company is a leading producer of automotive and industrial coatings, architectural finishes, continuous-strand fibreglass, and chlorine and caustic soda. In addition, it manufactures chemicals used as ingredients in antifreeze and antiknock compounds for gasoline. Other products of PPG include specialty glass and consumer paints.