Optimistic about the business potential of Low-E glass, Taiwan Glass Ind. Corp. (TGI), a large-sized energy-efficient glass maker in Taiwan, has invested a total of US$360 million in setting up 10 more production lines for the product, aiming to boost its annual output of 489,000 metric tons in 2013, according to the company.
Low-E glass is a high-performance low-emissivity product based on state-of-the-art vacuum sputtering coating technology. Generating much higher margins than ordinary glass, the product is expected to pump considerable growth momentum into the company’s profits after the additional 10 lines are set for mass production. Presently, the company churns out 93,600 metric tons of the product a year.
TGI’s president P.S. Lin indicated that his company has focused output expansion on Low-E glass in recent years and almost completed production deployments in China, poised to capture the top spot in the local market for energy-efficiency glass two years later.
Noteworthy is that Lin has also set eyes on Taiwan’s green building material market, and urged the competent authorities to draft regulations to promote use of energy-efficient glass in construction. Lin’s ambition in the island’s energy-efficient glass market can also be reflected by TGI’s partnership with TECO Group, a large-sized maker of household electronics and compressors, as the two parties will jointly set up a vacuum glass plant in central Taiwan, which is scheduled to be operational in the third quarter of next year.
In the meantime, the company is also studying the feasibility of building a car glass production plant in northeastern China, where, Lin stated, a large number of carmakers and ample material resources will grant his company lucrative market potential.
Coincidentally, the company’s factory located in China’s southeastern province of Fujian has also started contributing to its business growth this year. The plant, engaged in production of ultra clear glass for solar cells and glass substrates for thin-film solar cells with annual output of 50,000 metric tons, has been running at full capacity for the moment.
