German fiberglass company Culimeta expects to start output in autumn 2006 from its Culimeta Baltics manufacturing operation, which is under construction in the northern Latvian city of Valmiera, the c…
German fiberglass company Culimeta expects to start output in autumn 2006 from its Culimeta Baltics manufacturing operation, which is under construction in the northern Latvian city of Valmiera, the company said. Culimeta Baltics board member Maris Lesins said that construction of the plant will be completed by 31 August 2006. About LVL 2 million (EUR 2.8 million) will be invested in the plant. Lesins said that the new plant will have about 4,000 square meters of floor space. At the start about 30-40% of the production floor space will be used, producing 1,300 tons of fiberglass thread a year. By 2009, the company plans to purchase all the necessary equipment and capacity may increase to 3,000 tons of fiberglass thread per annum. Although another fiberglass company, Valmieras Stikla Skiedra (Valmieras SS) is also located in Valmiera, Lesins said that the companies will in fact be partners, not competitors. Valmieras SS will make fiberglass for Culimeta Baltics, which in turn will use it to make fiberglass products. The companies have been cooperating for ten years already and Valmieras SS suggested that Culimeta open a production plant in Latvia to cut logistics expenses, said Lesins. Part of the output will be exchanged for fiberglass with Valmieras SS, while the rest of the products will be sold through other Culimeta subsidiaries, said Lesins. According to information from the Latvian business register, Culimeta Baltics was founded in March 2006 and its paid-up share capital is LVL 2,000. Culimeta was founded in 1926 in Germany and is involved in fiberglass material processing and sales. Culimeta has five plants around world, according to the company“s website. Valmieras SS is Latvia“s largest fiberglass company, and its largest shareholders are German P-D Glasseiden Oschatz GmbH and Vitrulan Textilglas GmbH. Valmieras SS shares are quoted on the Riga Stock Exchange Second List.