Asahi Glass's expansion

Asahi Glass's expansion

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's Asahi Glass Co. Ltd. said it would invest a total of US$210 million in a new plant in Thailand and increased capacity at existing plants there and in Indonesia.

Asahi Glass said it would spend $110 million on a new plant near Bangkok, with a furnace capable of producing 500 tons of glass a day, and raise annual auto glass output at its existing Thai plant to 700,000 units from 450,000 by the end of March 1998.

In Indonesia, it would spend $100 million to raise glass output by adding a new furnace with daily capacity of 500 tons, it said.

Asahi Glass said its daily capacity in Asia, excluding Japan, would reach 5,500 tons in the year to March 1998.

The company added it was aiming for a 20 percent share of the world automobile glass market by 2000.