JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #65 - May/June 2011 - 11

its more than 10-year-old global sales network. At the conference, Jushi Group handed over corporate plates to Jushi France and Jushi Singapore, signed agreements with and conferred a corporate plate to the newly established overseas sales company Jushi Japan, and signed an agreement with its new exclusive British distributor, GRPMS. The group also announced plans to acquire Gibson and set up Jushi America at the beginning of 2011. (Jushi America, Jushi Japan and Jushi France are now fully operational.)

interview
ZHANG YUQIANG, CHAIRMAN AND PRESIDENT OF THE JUSHI GROUP

New enhanced fibre
Jushi Group officially launched its newlydeveloped product: ViPro. ViPro exceeds the group’s E6 glass fibre in terms of both performance and applications. It has 30% higher strength and 12% higher modulus and better fatigue and corrosion resistance than Eglass. With a fluoride-free composition, ViPro is more environment-friendly. Its high strength and modulus makes it suitable for high-end applications such as wind turbine blades, high-pressure pipes, cylinders, sucker rods, LFT, etc.

JEC Composites Magazine: How did Jushi Group recover from the crisis? ZHANG YUQIANG: 2010 is the first year

after the financial crisis. Jushi has good results. Our production capacity has been fully restored and now exceeds 900,000 metric tons per year.

Interview
Mr Zhang Yuqiang answered our questions during the conference; unveiling Jushi's development strategies and explaining how the group plans to develop in the changing global economy in order to best deal with challenges and difficulties. He emphasized two key points: “strengthen R&D capabilities and occupy high-end markets” and “make a breakthrough in the anti-dumping pressure and expand overseas markets”. See below.

JCM: India, Turkey and the EU plan to or have already taken measures concerning the Chinese glass fibre trade. How do you plan to adapt your strategy to overcome this new economic environment? (NB: this interview was conducted before the EU decided on 13.8% duties on Chinese glass fibre imports) Z. Y.: We believe it’s unfair. There is a JCM: What are your strengths and strategy? Z. Y.: We want to strengthen our R&D

Conclusion
In just 15 years, Jushi has become one of the largest players in the glass fibre composite market with a production capacity of about 950,000 metric tons per year. The group is also determined to further develop both its manufacturing capacity and technological innovations.
More information: www.jushi.com

political background. As the economy recovers, EU plants will not be able to produce enough glass fibre. This will lead to a shortage. Only 10,000 people are involved in manufacturing glass fibre in Europe, compared to 100,000 involved in composite materials. The volume reduction and plant closings in Europe were not due to Chinese imports, but to the recession. We want to make a breakthrough in the anti-dumping pressure and expand our overseas markets. Plants outside China may be a way to react to antidumping regulations.

capabilities and occupy high-end markets, while focusing on

No65 May –June 2011 / jec composites magazine footprint in wind energy for the global market. High-speed trains are promising projects for China with a target of 500 km/h. At first, they will be made only to meet the domestic demand, with the potential to export Chinese high-speed trains afterwards. We have customers in 80 countries, sometimes with very small quantities, but we work for the future in terms of volume. Growth comes with new applications, too. Replacing the metal in refrigerator doors is a good example. We do not have a heavy layer of management. We are very reactive to customers’ needs. We have the technology to build a new furnace in only 14 months. New plants are planned in Asia, South America and Africa.

JCM: What will be your new markets in terms of application sectors and locations? Z. Y.: We want to increase our

environmental protection with fluoride-free formulations. We plan to upgrade our technology and equipment in order to reduce prices, save energy and develop new products for new markets. Jushi’s unique size makes us special in regard to our capacities. We want to be the strongest company among glass fibre producers dedicated to composites. It was not easy to become the largest and it will not be easy to be the strongest. We might reduce our expansion expenses, but spend more on R&D and technology to accelerate the footprint for globalization. For the past decade, we have been successful due to teamwork striving for one goal. Today’s generation applies our strategy quicker and in a better way. I don’t worry about its success. Once your strategy is decided, you need to be very clear about what it takes to accomplish it. Knowledge is important. The education of all our employees and increased PhD funding are keys to achieve our goals.

Companies & Business

http://www.jushi.com

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #65 - May/June 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #65 - May/June 2011