On 18 December 2000, Asahi Glass held the ground-breaking ceremony for its planned glass substrate plant in Yunlin Science Industrial Park in southern Taiwan. In a three-phase operation, Asahi will be investing up to Y30bn in the new plant, the first of its kind outside Japan. The first phase, which includes the establishment of two production lines for glass substrate cuttings, is scheduled for completion in October 2001. The second construction phase will focus on the manufacture of glass substrates, while the third stage foresees the establishment of an integrated production system, including the introduction of raw materials and relevant technologies. According to Asahi, the planned annual capacity of three million square meters of glass sheets for thin film transistor-liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCDs) may not be enough to meet demand.
