Taiwan Glass Industry, a supplier of glass and fiber glass fabrics, has completed construction of a sodium carbonate plant in China. The in-house availability of sodium carbonate, a raw material for the production of glass, may allow the company to swing back to profitability in 2013, according to company president PS Lin.
Taiwan Glass posted a loss of NT$1.47 billion (US$50.68 million) in the first three quarters of 2012, due mainly to losses at its flat glass business unit, eroding gains generated from the fiber glass fabric unit, Lin revealed.
Lin expects sales of its fiber glass fabrics, mostly fiber glass yarns, to remain strong in 2013 thanks to brisk sales of smartphones and tablets.
The company's sodium carbonate plant will begin commercial production at a rate of one million tons a month in the first quarter of 2013, which will help reduce its production costs, Lin noted.
