Owens Corning announced an investment today in a new furnace to expand production capacity at its glass reinforcements facility in Tlaxcala, Mexico.
The expansion results from increasing global demand for glass reinforcements, and is the fourth production capacity increase announced by the company’s reinforcements division in recent months. Capacity increases were also recently announced in Yuhang, China; Gous-Khroustalny, Russia; and Besana, Italy.
Scheduled to begin construction later this month, the new furnace is expected to be operational in early 2012, at which time it will more than double production capacity at the Tlaxcala facility. The expansion will support increased production of Owens Corning's corrosion-resistant Advantex glass and will produce assembled roving and dry-use chopped strands.
"The steady growth in demand for these products, coupled with favorable pricing in the marketplace, is driving a positive expected return on the investment in our Tlaxcala facility," said Marcio Sandri, vice president and managing director for the company's Americas reinforcement business. "We are pleased to be able to support our customers' needs with this latest expansion."
A Fortune 500 company for 56 consecutive years, Owens Corning is a global producer of residential and commercial building materials, glass-fiber reinforcements and engineered materials for composite systems.
