Corning Expanding China Plant

Due to increasing demand in China for broadband optical communications, Corning Inc. is expanding its optical fiber manufacturing facility in Shanghai, the company announced yesterday. Financial details of the plan were not disclosed.

"The optical fiber market in China is expected to more than double in annual volume this decade driven by increasing need for the widespread deployment of high-speed, broadband optical communications networks," said Martin J. Curran, senior vice president and general manager, Corning Optical Fiber. "The expansion of our Shanghai facility will ensure that we have adequate capacity to meet this opportunity and maintain our strong position in the China optical fiber market."

"For more than 20 years, as China's communications infrastructure evolved to fiber-optic networks, Corning has played an important role and provided technologically advanced optical fiber as the foundation of a large percentage of China's nationwide communications backbone," said Eric S. Musser, CEO, Corning Greater China. "Today we are announcing another significant milestone which further strengthens Corning's commitment to produce the highest-quality optical fiber in this region."

The expansion of the Shanghai facility will begin immediately and is expected to be completed in 2009, the company said.

Corning also manufactures optical fiber in Wilmington, N.C., the world's largest optical fiber plant. The company also recently announced plans to partially reopen its optical fiber plant in Concord, N.C. (See "Corning to Reopen NC Fiber Plant"), due to continued growth of the worldwide optical fiber market.

For more information, visit: www.corning.com/opticalfiber