The new plant, which will have an annual production capacity of 70,000 metric tonnes, is expected to become operational in the second half of 2018. The Şişecam glass fibre business, originally am Elyaf Sanayii A.Ş., is now part of the Chemicals division of the Şişecam Group, and remains the sole manufacturer of glass fibres in Turkey from its existing glass fibre furnaces and production plant in Gebze, Kocaeli, located 65 km south east of Istanbul, supplying customers in 30 countries worldwide.
The planned new Şişecam glass fibre plant will be located in Balikesir, the north western part of Turkey, very close to the Aegean region industrial cluster where around 80% of wind energy manufacturers in Turkey are now located. The new plant will produce the current range of E-glass fibre reinforcement products supplied as strands, mats and bobbins for producing a variety of glass fibre filled engineering thermoplastics, phenolic brake pads, gypsum reinforcement, and numerous GRP composite end applications typically using unsaturated polyester, vinyl ester, epoxy and polyurethane resins.
The range of Şişecam glass fibre products the new plant will produce includes: chopped strands in standard and custom lengths; emulsion and powder bonded chopped strand mats (CSM) for both open moulding and continuous production of GRP panels; multi-end continuous strand rovings for GRP production processes such as spray-up, continuous lamination, and sheet moulding compound (SMC) applications; single end continuous rovings for filament winding, pultrusion and weaving.
The new plant is primarily aimed at supplying the needs of customers in Europe, and this major investment decision is a clear statement of intent by Şişecam and long term commitment to remain a key supplier to the glass fibre business and to support European manufacturing industries looking for a reliable supply chain and a more local source of high quality glass fibre products.
Key manufacturing sectors that are supplied by Şişecam glass fibre include: wind energy, automotive, land transportation, marine, industrial, building and construction. To meet the specification requirements of key industry sectors, Şişecam glass fibre products have various DNV-GL, Lloyds Register and FDA compliance certifications.
www.sisecamchemicals.com/en
www.sisecam.com.tr/en
