Work on UAE’s float-glass plant to begin in Oct.’05

The project, jointly set up by Dubai Investments, Abu Dhabi Investment Company (ADIC) and a select group of strategic investors from the region, is expected to produce 600 tons of float glass per day.

This will be the first float glass plant in the UAE and Dubai Investments has already established a formidable presence in the glass processing industry, through its subsidiary companies, Emirates Glass and Lumiglass Industries.

Khalid bin Kalban, chief executive officer and managing director of Dubai Investments, said, “The primary objective of setting up Emirates Float Glass is to support the regional glass processors by supplying premium quality float glass products for the architectural and automotive segments. With two glass processing units as subsidiaries, Dubai Investments realises the importance of having local production.’’

A 410,000 square metre waterfront plot of land, where raw materials can be unloaded directly from ships, has been allocated for the project at the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi. The plot has provision for an additional float glass production line of similar capacity as well as an independent 36 cathode magnetic sputtered vacuum coating facility of five million square metres capacity.

Plant construction data and operation know-how including product formulation will be provided by a leading American technology firm while the general contractor will be an Italian firm specialised in float plant construction.

A leading international project management firm has been selected to coordinate with the Italian contractor on the plant construction activities.

Apart from this, Dubai Investments is working on an agreement for the supply of high-quality silica sand required for float glass production, and is in the final stages of negotiations with suppliers from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt.