Work on first ever Float Glass Plant in UAE to get underway at Industrial City of Abu Dhabi

Leading dignitaries and business people including glass processors, fabricators, building developers, consultants and contractors, will attend the function.Khalid Kalban, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Investments thanked the support provided by H.H. Sheikh Hamad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, chairman of Higher Corporation of specialized Economic Zone (HCSEZ) and the management of ICAD which helped in expediting the project's construction activities.

The float glass production plant, being constructed at a cost of US$ 193 million, will have an annual capacity of about 160,000 tons of architectural, automotive, pyrolytic coated and special products. The design engineering has been completed by the turnkey contractor for the project - IANUA of Italy which has been involved since 1975 in designing and building machinery and plants used in glass process transformation around the world.

Emirates Float Glass has entered into technical partnership of PPG Industries, a global supplier of glass, coatings, fiberglass and chemicals with about 50 production facilities in the United States and about 108 worldwide.

Emirates Float Glass will be part of the glass holding company being formed by Dubai Investments. The glass holding company would include a family of glass manufacturing and processing companies as well as glass products trading companies. Besides EFG, the glass holding company currently includes Emirates Glass, Lumiglass and Saudi American Glass. Emirates Float Glass will be able to provide these companies with 120,000 tonnes of glass annually.

Kalban said; 'With the formation of the glass holding company, we plan to consolidate our experience in the glass industry. We have already started working on the second float glass line which we plan to expand by setting up a number of related manufacturing facilities including additional float line, coating line, mirror line and patterned glass line, making it the market leader in Glass Business across the region.

'Dubai Investments is spearheading the industrial development in UAE by setting up and operating a number of major industries in diversified sectors. Currently, the company has a portfolio of over 30 production facilities in the country.'

Kalban reiterated that 'the project is of strategic importance to the UAE's industrial development. We have selected this project in line with the objectives of our Government to focus on rapid Industrialisation and Economic development of the region.'