Investing more than €15 million in energy-efficient solutions and creating more than 50 new job opportunities for the region's residents, construction of the second high-silica glass melting furnace at the Valmieras Stikla Šķiedra production site has been completed. It will run alongside the two existing E-glass furnaces and another high-silica glass melting furnace. On Friday 14 July, the heating up of the new furnace began to prepare it for the start of glass fibre production, so that the Latvian firm can provide high-value export products in early August.

“We are the only Western supplier of high-temperature resistant glass fibre products. Our customers are looking for a sustainable supply chain in Europe as they follow the consequences of war on the world political stage. Faced with growing demand, we are currently increasing our production capacity to serve this market sector," says Stefan Jugel, Chairman of the Board.

High-silica glass fibre is made into products that are able to provide heat resistance of up to 1100°C. Their role is invaluable in industries requiring low thermal conductivity, inertness to most chemical reagents, resistance to organic and mineral acids, weak alkali, water and high-pressure steam. These products are therefore often used in various high-tech industries such as aerospace, chemicals, metallurgy, special clothing, energy, mechanical engineering and insulating materials for electric car batteries.

In addition to a new glass fibre waste recycling unit, the next investment step will be to invest in technology for further processing of high-silica glass fibre and possibly to build two more similar furnaces as more and more customers demand glass fibre fabrics.

valmiera-glass.com