Olongapo SubicBay BatangGapo Newscenter

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Hebei pursuing Subic glass plant

Hebei Xingtao Jingniu Glass Co. Ltd. of China, or Crystal Bull, is pushing through with its proposed $300-million glass production facility in the Subic Bay Freeport, with construction set to start before yearend.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority administrator Armand Arreza told reporters last week that the company would invest $100 million for the first phase of the project.

“The Chinese have confirmed their investment here in the Freeport. They will be producing tinted glass and specialized glass such as jade and ceramic glass for export to Southeast Asia and for local needs,” said Arreza, who met with Jingniu’s chairman Wang Chang Lin.

The project will generate 2,000 new jobs initially.

The Chinese, he said, have chosen to put up their production facility on a 23-hectare area in Maritan Hill. Jingniu will initially put two product lines.

The groundbreaking and start of construction are set within the year. The company expects to operate commercially a year after the start of construction.

The firm, as an export enterprise, will be required to export 70 percent of its entire production and allocate only 30 percent for the domestic market. But being a pioneer project, the company won’t be required to adhere to the 70-percent export requirement since this was only enforced for the reckoning of the 5-percent gross income tax.

“I would expect the first six years of operations would ramp up to eventually hurdle the 70-percent minimum export requirement,” said Arreza.

He also said Crystal Bull’s products would not directly compete with Japan’s Asahi Glass, which had long been operating in the country.

“The product lines are different. Besides, all tinted glass being used locally is imported from China anyway,” said Arreza.

He said there was higher demand for tinted glass as opposed to Asahi’s clear glass. The glass panels used in buildings are tinted. Jade glass is used in bathroom fixtures, while the ceramic glass is for industrial use like those in space shuttles.

He also said the company was also studying the viability of sourcing its raw materials, particularly silica, from local sources such as Mindoro and Antique.

“With the local manufacturing and sourcing, I expect the cost of construction materials, particularly glass, would go down,” Arreza said.

Jingniu earlier pulled out its investment application after it was told that its project “does not fit” into the environment-friendly positioning of the Subic Freeport. The Chinese investors were apparently dismayed when its proposed project was refused due to environmental reasons.
By Elaine Ruzul S. Ramos - Manila Standard Today

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