The China National Building Material Group announced that it will invest about USD 395 million to install three production lines for LCD glass production, as per an agreement for the project with the …
The China National Building Material Group announced that it will invest about USD 395 million to install three production lines for LCD glass production, as per an agreement for the project with the Chengdu City government signed in late March 2009. Construction of the first line is programmed for July, the company said. The size of the LCD substrates to be produced was not disclosed, but the largest of the China-based panel suppliers, Shanghai SVA NEC Liquid Crystal Display, has capacity for fifth-generation glass. SVA NEC, founded in 2005, is a joint venture of NEC (25%) and Shanghai Video-Audio (SVA) (75%). SVA NEC, which has disclosed plans for 6G production, posted a USD 146.2 million loss in 2008. China National said the aim of the project is to develop the Chengdu area as an LCD glass production hub. Corning, Asahi Glass and Nippon Electric Glass dominate LCD glass production, while Chinese panel makers BOE Technology and Tianma Microelectronics are building 4.5G LCD plants in Chengdu, and BOE also has a plant in Beijing. Corning, which counts BOE and SVA among its customers in China, opened an LCD glass-finishing factory in the Beijing area in 2008. The glass for Corning“s China customers is produced in Taiwan. Corning has not yet announced when it might start glass production in China, but a finishing plant typically is a precursor to full-blown production, according to a spokesman. On disclosing its plans for the China factory in 2006, Corning said a glass-forming plant would probably be set up within two to four years.