Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. (AGC) recently announced that it will open a new production base in Jiangsu, China, for thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) glass substrates. Facilities will be installed to process (cut and polish) up to eighth-generation glass substrates. The start of volume production is currently scheduled for the autumn of 2011.

Demand for TFT-LCD panels has remained relatively strong for both TV and PC applications, and it is expected to continue to grow at a rate of 10 to 20% per year. The mother glass used in mainstream production methods of TFT-LCD panel manufacturers is large, so glass manufacturers need to be capable of steadily supplying large-sized glass substrates.

To date, AGC has expanded capacity and has strived to raise productivity at its existing facilities in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. In Korea, the operation of a new furnace began this year, and expansions are also going forward in Taiwan to respond to the growth in demand.

AGC has been supplying orders from China by shipping from these existing production bases. However, plans to produce large-sized TFT-LCD panels in China are arising one after another, and the future demand for large-sized glass substrates is expected to grow greatly. Therefore, AGC has decided to set up this new facility to process large-sized glass substrates and thereby establish a production system with enough flexibility to respond to the growth of the Chinese market in coordination with the existing operations in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

AGC’s website is located at www.agc.co.jp.

Links

• "AGC Group's 2009 Net Sales Down 20.5%"
• Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.