19 March 1998: Asahi Glass Co. of Japan and Belgium“s Solvay have reportedly agreed to extend the period for completing primary facilities expansion at Solvay Soda Ash Joint Venture (SSAJV), their co…
19 March 1998: Asahi Glass Co. of Japan and Belgium“s Solvay have reportedly agreed to extend the period for completing primary facilities expansion at Solvay Soda Ash Joint Venture (SSAJV), their collectively-owned enterprise that produces natural soda ash in the US. Initially, the parent firms had planned to complete the project by the summer of 1999, which is expected to add 400,000 short tonnes a year of capacity, but then set the date back to the end of 2000. Reports say that slow-moving glass production in Asia accompanying the region“s economic turbulence, is in turn reducing demand growth for raw material soda ash. SSAJV maintains facilities in Wyoming, in the US, with the capacity to produce 2.3 million S t/y of soda ash. Asahi Glass has claims on 460,000 S t/y of the output, supplying half to glass factories in North America and Europe and the other half to plants in Japan and other Asian markets. Anticipating growing soda ash needs for its own captive use and from Asian affiliates, primarily for making sheet glass, Asahi Glass had drawn up three expansion plans that would have enlarged SSAJV“s total capacity to 3.5 million S t/y in 2003. Reportedly, the venture has started partial mining of the primary expansion phase that was slated to be finished by the middle of next year. But the effects of Asia“s economic turmoil, triggered by currency crises in the region, are said to have dampened glass demand. Asahi Glass is supposedly considering halting its glass production lines in Thailand and Indonesia, and has cancelled plans to manufacture sheet glass in Vietnam. An Asahi Glass spokesperson insists the company will not be affected by the crisis, and will continue with its building up of a 1 million t/y soda ash supply structure based on the output from the company“s Kitakyushu factory and SSAJV.