Jushi, a leading Chinese glass fibre producer, has announced the start-up of its second glass fibre furnace in Suez, Egypt, in the beginning of June 2016, in the context of the global extension of the company’s presence in Europe and North America. After the light-up of the furnace, the production will take off in July.

The Suez plant was opened in 2013 with an annual capacity of 80,000 tons. This is now the second phase with an additional expansion of another 80,000 tons, to be followed by a third and final furnace planned to be installed in 2017, designating the completion of Jushi’s Egyptian expansion.

China Jushi, headquartered in Zhejiang, China, is a leading producer of fiberglass reinforcements, with three production bases in Tongxiang, Jiujiang, and Chengdu.

Serving Europe

“The expansion outside of China, serving Europe with our full range of products, both thermoset and thermoplastic, is part of our corporate strategy to be a truly global supplier of glass fibre systems to our worldwide customers,” commented Mr Zhang, CEO of Jushi.

“Investing in further innovative products, we will launch a new high performance E8-Glass comparable to the traditional S-Glass to the market by end of 2016, which will have higher strength and stiffness for applications such as wind rotor blades and automotive parts.”

The company also confirmed the groundbreaking of its first site in the USA in Richland, SC, in the end of 2016.

European glass fibre market

For these new capacities, Helm AG will continue to market the products as exclusive distributor for Germany, Austria and Switzerland for Jushi.

“We, as the exclusive distribution partner for Jushi, are delighted to continue providing our full technical and first class commercial service, for our valued customers. In our region, the focus is especially on the thermoplastic market with Chopped Strands and Rovings for LFT, as well as new capacity for SMC/ BMC,” commented Kirstin Kettler, Head of the Glass Fiber business at HELM AG.

Dr Michael Effing, Senior Advisor to Helm AG explained: “The European glass fibre market is growing with a rate of 5% per year at a size of 1.2 Mio tons for the European Market and is demanding for additional capacity. Today, around 60% of the total demand is provided by local production in the EU. With their Egyptian plant, placed in the free-trade zone, Jushi contributes to cover the European glass fibre demand.”

www.jushi.com