Corning Inc., the world“s largest maker of glass substrates for TFT-LCDs (thin film transistor-liquid crystal displays), will invest US$ 100 million to set up a plant at the Tainan Science-based Indu…
Corning Inc., the world“s largest maker of glass substrates for TFT-LCDs (thin film transistor-liquid crystal displays), will invest US$ 100 million to set up a plant at the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park in southern Taiwan. Lisa Ferreo, a representative of Corning, announced the decision at a recent meeting with officials of the park. She said construction of the plant will start in early 2000 and production will begin 18 months later. The US company currently has a dominant 70% of the global glass substrate market and it supplies 65% of the material demanded in Taiwan. The selection of the Tainan science park for the new plant is mainly to provide faster services to its customers that have built TFT-LCD plants in the same park. At the initial stage, Corning will import semifinished materials from Japan for final processing. It will build two glass melting furnaces to replace imports from abroad. A total of five production lines will be set up. Park officials said the investment project of Corning will help facilitate the vertical integration of the optoelectronic industry in Taiwan and increase its competitiveness.