Corning Says COVID-19 Gen 10.5 China Glass Setbacks Were ‘Short-Term’

All of Corning’s tanks at its Gen 10.5 display-glass plant in Hefei, China, “are in normal operating condition,” emailed spokesperson Gabrielle Bailey, responding to a Display Supply Chain Consultants report warning that a Hefei “tank failure,” combined with an unrelated Nippon Electric Glass mishap, could “exacerbate an already tight glass supply situation” (see 2012210039). “The pandemic impacted the global economy in 2020, and the display industry was no exception,” said Bailey. COVID-19-driven restrictions on Corning’s “travel and transport” delayed “ramp schedules” at its Gen 10.5 plants in China, she said. “These restrictions also obliged us to extend the timing for required maintenance activities at our Hefei plant to support our customers by maximizing output volume.” Corning in Q3 “successfully started up” its Gen 10.5 glass-melting operations in Wuhan and Guangzhou, China, said Bailey. The pandemic-related logistical challenges midyear were “short-term in nature,” she said. Corning often boasts it's committed to fully deploying three of the new Gen 10.5 glass plants in China. Asahi Glass owns the fourth.