Owens Corning, a leading producer of glass fibre has announced a $130 million investment in North America to expand its global glass nonwovens business. The new facility will house a state-of-the-art manufacturing line, coating capability and R&D activities, with future expansion options.

The North American facility will use Owens Corning glass fibres supplied from existing facilities and will specialise in high-quality nonwovens for composite systems and residential and commercial building materials, including wall coverings, ceiling and flooring materials, specialty insulation, gypsum and automotive products.

Strategic alliance

The location of the new facility has been narrowed to several US states. The final determination, expected in near future, will be based on proximity to customers, availability of talent, infrastructure and natural resources, and whether it is a favourable business environment.

“There is a limited supply of glass nonwoven products serving the global building materials market today,” commented Owens Corning Group President Arnaud Genis.

The company also recently announced a strategic alliance with glass fibre  producer Taishan Fiberglass, a subsidiary of China National Materials Group, also known as Sinoma, to expand throughout the world the use of Alkali Resistant (AR) specialty glass products sold under the trademarks CemFIL, Anti-CRAK and SlurryFIL.

AR-glass fibres and CemFIL

Since their development and launch in 1970, AR-glass fibres have been used, according to Owens Corning, in more than 120 countries for the reinforcement of cement and concrete. CemFIL is a high-performance alkali-resistant glass fibre that is engineered to reinforce concrete and prevent plastic, thermal and dry shrinkage cracking. CemFIL increases flexural strength and ductility and adds toughness to concrete. AR-glass fibres and CemFIL are best known for their use in factory-produced glass fibre-reinforced concrete (GRC) elements, but the range of Anti-CRAK fibres has been recently expanded for use in the general ready-mix concrete and precast industries.

Manufacturing for the alliance will be based in China. To ensure commercial focus and success, Taishan will market the products in China, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, Japan, South Korea, South Africa and Saudi Arabia, while Owens Corning will serve markets throughout the rest of the world.

Genis said: “We believe a bright future exists for glass reinforcements in cement materials, the largest materials market in the world. With Taishan’s strong manufacturing experience in China, and Sinoma’s experience in cement materials and engineering, this alliance is the right combination to bring growth to AR-glass reinforcements for the foreseeable future.”

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