Saint-Gobain and Central Glass have agreed to jointly established an automotive glass manufacturing plant that will be constructed on Saint-Gobain’s Qingdao site in Shandong Province to accommodate the fast-growing demand from the Chinese automotive market.
Saint-Gobain and Central Glass have signed an agreement to jointly establish an automotive glass manufacturing company in China through a holding company in Japan, which will also be jointly established by the parties.
This automotive glass manufacturing plant will be constructed on Saint-Gobain’s Qingdao site in Shandong Province to accommodate the fast-growing demand from the Chinese automotive market.
Central Glass and Saint-Gobain have been collaborating in the automotive glass business since 2002 through Central Saint-Gobain Co., Ltd. in Japan, another joint venture for the distribution of automotive glass, mainly to Japan-based automotive manufacturers. Because of its strategic cooperative relationship, Central Glass has decided to jointly invest with Saint-Gobain in the new manufacturing company to strengthen its automotive glass business.
The investment in the new plant, which will serve as a key manufacturing facility for Central Glass and Saint-Gobain, will be implemented in three phases between 2011 and 2014, and will have a manufacturing capacity of 1.5 million units of glass annually upon its completion.
Work on the plant is expected to begin in November, and production to begin in September 2012.