Mexico's Vitro SA will start producing glass this month at the Baja California facility it renovated with 50- 50 joint-venture partner AFG Industries Inc.
In a filing with the Mexican Stock Exchange, Vitro said that the Mexicali float glass plant will begin producing Nov. 18 for the construction industries in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.
Renovation of the plant, which Vitro had used to produce glass containers, took 12 months and cost the partners $50 million each.
The plant is expected to produce 500 metric tons of flat glass per day.
Vitro and AFG, a unit of Japan's Asahi Glass Co. Ltd. , created the joint venture in June 2001. The plant will produce several types of construction glass, including clear glass of varying thickness and mirrored glass.
Vitro, which is based in Monterrey, expects the venture will reduce its transport and logistics costs, while reducing the time it takes to send glass to its U.S. subsidiary and customers in northwestern Mexico.
Asahi expects the partnership to help it meet growing demand for construction glass in the northwestern U.S. and Canada.
Asahi is the world's largest glass maker, while AFG, based in Kingsport, Tenn., is the biggest supplier of construction glass for the U.S. market. Vitro, Mexico's largest glass company, has co-investment projects with nine companies around the globe, giving it access to more than 70 countries.