Asahi Glass Co. reports effects of earthquake on its facilities

The strong earthquakes and tsunamis that hit the northern part of Japan on March 11 impacted the AGC Group’s operations, according to a March 14 release. Four plants in Kashima, Chiba, Yonezawa and Koriyama were affected by the natural disaster. Other than the above locations, production has been suspended at some of the plants for architectural processed glass in the Tohoku/North Kanto region due to damage to facilities or raw materials (i.e. flat glass), or to employees not being able to go to the plant. At this moment, it is not clear when operations will resume. Excerpts from the March 14 announcement regarding the status of AGC´s Japan operations follow:"EmployeesAGC is currently in the process of confirming the safety of its group members. It has been reported that several employees have been slightly injured.FacilitiesThe following facilities have been heavily affected by the earthquakes and tsunamis. The damage situation in the Tohoku area is very serious, and operations not listed below might also be affected depending on the electrical power supply and lifeline utilities in the region.(1) AGC Asahi Glass Kashima Plant (Kamisu, Ibaraki prefecture)The float glass facility for architectural flat glass has been partially damaged. Production operations have been suspended and it is expected to take approximately one month to restart the production. The loading berth used for the shipments of architectural float glass and the receiving of raw materials has been damaged, and it is expected to take time to restore the facility.(2) AGC Asahi Glass Chiba Plant (Ichihara, Chiba prefecture)While access restriction has been imposed in the area due to the ongoing fire on the premises of neighboring Cosmo Oil Co., Ltd., AGC is currently working on the confirmation of the status of the plant facilities.(3) AGC Display Glass Yonezawa (Yonezawa, Yamagata prefecture)There is no critical damage to the building facilities of AGC Display Glass Yonezawa, which processes small/mid-sized LCD glass substrates, and production operations are resuming accordingly. Meanwhile, among the company´s outsourcers that handle a part of its processing operations, some building facilities have been severely damaged, and urgent restoration work is underway.(4) AGC Electronics Koriyama Plant (Koriyama, Fukushima prefecture)The production facility has been partially damaged, and restoration work is currently underway. .Outlook and other situations concerning shipmentsUntil the operations of the AGC Kashima plant resume, AGC will allocate existing inventories and shipments from other AGC Group´s plants in and outside the country and make the utmost effort to prevent a supply shortage of architectural glass." 25.03.2011, Asahi Glass Co./glassmagazine.com