Company News

United Plate Glass Opens New Facility in North Carolina

United Plate Glass (UPG), a flat glass and fabrication company based in Butler, Pa., opened a new 55,000-square-foot facility in Lincolnton, N.C., on June 18.

Already servicing Western and Central Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, Northern West Virginia, Southwestern New York and parts of Maryland, UPG decided to expand in another fast growing region, Charlotte, N.C. With the completion of its 55,000-squarefoot building in Lincolnton, N.C., in 2008, UPG adds a third tempering furnace, insulating line, flat polishing and hole drilling machine to its multitude of glass fabrication abilities.

“The United Plate Glass family would like to thank the Lincoln Economic Development Association for the enormous support they have offered during the entire process,” says Mike Cully, coowner of UPG. “UPG is looking forward to many years of prosperity in Lincoln County.”

The family-owned and -operated glass fabrication company was founded in the 1980s as a local glass distributor in a 9,000-square-foot building, and since that time has grown into a multifaceted glass fabricator. www.unitedplateglass.com

Will Asahi Glass Co.Become AGC All Around?
An article in Kyoto News International reported that Kazuhiko Ishimuram, president of Japan-based Asahi Glass Co., had announced on July 1 that the company will change its name to AGC in the future.

Yet when asked to comment on the article, Yoshihiko Saito, manager of corporate communications for Asahi Glass, stated, “Asahi Glass has not decided the change its name to AGC.”

According to Saito, Ishimuram has simply commented during the press conference, “It seems to be better for Asahi Glass to change its name to ‘AGC’ after ‘AGC’ is recognized more widely than now.”

Saito did not comment on the likelihood of the company unifying under one name in the future, but did explain that the company’s operations—including the former AFG Industries and Glaverbel—were all branded under the name AGC in 2007 (see January 2007 USGlass, page 16).

In other news, Bloomberg reported on July 1 that Asahi has said it may increase prices of architectural glass by a “single-digit” percent in the United States and Europe. The increases are a result of higher fuel and raw material costs. Officials at Asahi would not comment if true. www.asahi.com

DuPont PVB Prices to Climb
DuPont Glass Laminating Solutions in Wilmington, Del., has announced a price increase of up to 30 percent on all grades of its DuPont™ Butacite® polyvinyl butyral interlayer product line, effective August 1. The price increase has been applied globally, while specifics vary by region.

While officials with DuPont declined to comment on the regional variances of the increases, the company has reported that the move is due to the rapid and unprecedented increases in petrochemical feedstock, energy, freight and distribution costs.

“Previous price [increases] were intended to compensate for increases in these costs; however, they have continued to dramatically increase. The need for immediate structural improvement is unprecedented and necessary to offset margin loss from the higher costs as well as to support continued investment in growing PVB market applications such as photovoltaics,” says Stephen L. Cox, director of glass laminating solutions and vinyls - DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers. www.dupont.com

USG
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