And It's Written In Stone - Owens Corning Plans $31 Million Expansion at its Cultured Stone Manufacturing Plants

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Owens Corning (OTC:OWENQ) (Toledo, Ohio) is preparing to meet the increased demands for cultured stone products. Owens Corning plans to invest $31 million for expansion at the three cultured stone manufacturing plants, operated by the company's Cultured Stone Corporation (Chester, South Carolina) subsidiary.

Current plans call for a $21 million expansion at the company's Chester, South Carolina plant that will double the plant's output by the end of 2005. With that expansion they expect to add another 300 employees to the 230 currently employed in Chester. Additionally, $10 million will be allocated to production line and equipment upgrades at the facilities in Napa, California, and Navarre, Ohio. The total production output is expected to increase by 70% by year's end.

These expansions are in response to the stone veneer industry's recent annual growth. In the last two years, the industry has seen a 15-20% increase, nationwide. While that alone is remarkable growth for the industry as a whole, Owens Corning's sales increased nearly 30% per year in the same time frame. With three plants, they are able to offer a complete product line, with the same specifications across the country.

Stone veneers have become more popular over the past several years, with both commercial and residential builders, as the product has proved both easy to work with and also increases perceived value in both new construction and improvements to existing homes.

BE&K Engineering Company (Birmingham, Alabama) has been selected as the general contractor for the improvements at the Napa, California Plant.

Since 1999, Industrialinfo.com has reported on 66 capital projects at Owens Corning manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Canada. These projects represent more than $600 million in total investment value. This includes projects at the company's asphalt shingle manufacturing plants, fiberglass insulation manufacturing plants, vinyl siding manufacturing, and other building products. In 2004, the company initiated the site study process for a new fiberglass insulation manufacturing plant to be located in the Southeast U.S.

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