Japanese Central Glass plans to suspend at end-May 2009 the operation of the float glass furnace at its Ube plant; the furnace produces flat glass for construction and electronic applications, such as…
Japanese Central Glass plans to suspend at end-May 2009 the operation of the float glass furnace at its Ube plant; the furnace produces flat glass for construction and electronic applications, such as flat-panel displays. The Tokyo-based company said the move would cut its output capacity for sheet glass to 1,000 tonnes per day, from the current 1,500 tonnes per day, lowering by JPY 3 billion (USD 30.8 million) the production value for float glass in fiscal 2009 (starting 1 April) compared to fiscal 2008. The glassmaker also plans to shut down at end-June the figured glass melting furnace at its Matsuzaka plant in Mie. It says it will redeploy the 50-60 workers to be made redundant by the stoppages of the two furnaces. With the sales of its flat glass declining, particularly for construction and automobile uses, the company expects its glass business to see a wider deficit in fiscal 2008 than in fiscal 2007, when it posted an operating loss of JPY 2.9 billion. Central Glass owns four float glass furnaces: two at the Matsuzaka plant, one of which has been shut down; one at its Sakai plant in Osaka; and one at the Ube plant. After the end-May 2009 furnace shutdown, production of automotive glass will be concentrated at the Matsuzaka plant, and glass for construction and electronics at the Sakai plant.