Chinese glass fibre producer Jushi (Tongxiang City, Zhejiang; www.jushi.com) has confirmed its third furnace in Suez / Egypt will go onstream in the second half of 2017. This production facility will bring the annual capacity from 160,000t to 200,000 t.

In addition, the company's first US glass fibre production plant, with an annual capacity of 80,000 t, broke ground on 8 December 2016 in Richmond, South Carolina. James Wang, general manager of international sales at Jushi, says the facility will go onstream by the end of 2018, and employ 400 workers.

Helm (Hamburg / Germany; www.helmag.com) is the exclusive distributor for Jushi in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Kirstin Kettler, head of fiber glass at Helm, says, “Hence, we are happy to announce that we are intensifying our customer service, offering silotruck deliveries to our Chopped Strands Thermoplastics customers with immediate effect. For our customers, this means significant cost savings and an efficiency increase. Besides increased Chopped Strand capacity, Jushi has also extended its product portfolio with BMC Chopped Strands, SMC Class A, LFT Roving and new Direct Rovings for the wind-energy market.”