 |
|
(File Photo)
|
BEIJING,
Sept. 11 -- Dutch chemical group DSM NV announced the launch of its first China
sizing plant yesterday in Shanghai to meet growing demand in Asia.
Sizing is applied to glass filaments and can add
great value to the performance of glass fibers, serving end users in the
automotive, wind energy and infrastructure construction industries, among
others.
Remko Goudappel, a director under DSM's composite
resins business unit, said the plant cost about 80 million yuan (10.6 million
U.S. dollars) to build but he refused to disclose its production capacity.
The factory is in Fengxian District.
As the downstream products of sizing, the glass fiber
industry in China has been rapidly growing since 2000.
It is expected to keep growing at about 20 percent
per year over the coming years, making China the world's largest maker of glass
fibers, DSM said.
This is because an increasing number of glass fiber
reinforced parts is used to replace metals in the automotive and electronics
industries for advantages in both weight and strength.
"With the plant, we reinforce DSM's position as the
global market leader in the development and manufacture of sizing," Jiang
Weiming, president of DSM China, said.
DSM's businesses include nutritional products,
pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals and performance materials, of which sizing
is a part.
The firm started investing in China more than a
decade ago and reported sales of 775 million dollars in the country in 2006. It
has set a target to raise China sales to 1 billion dollars in 2010.
(Source: Shanghai Daily)
