DUTCH chemical group DSM NV announced the launch of its first China sizing plant yesterday in Shanghai to meet growing demand in Asia.

Sizing is applied to glass filaments and can add great value to the performance of glass fibers, serving end users in the automotive, wind energy and infrastructure construction industries, among others.

Remko Goudappel, a director under DSM's composite resins business unit, said the plant cost about 80 million yuan (US$10.6 million) to build but he refused to disclose its production capacity.

The factory is in Fengxian District.

As the downstream products of sizing, the glass fiber industry in China has been rapidly growing since 2000.

It is expected to keep growing at about 20 percent per year over the coming years, making China the world's largest maker of glass fibers, DSM said.

This is because an increasing number of glass fiber reinforced parts is used to replace metals in the automotive and electronics industries for advantages in both weight and strength.

"With the plant, we reinforce DSM's position as the global market leader in the development and manufacture of sizing," Jiang Weiming, president of DSM China, said.

DSM's businesses include nutritional products, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals and performance materials, of which sizing is a part.

The firm started investing in China more than a decade ago and reported sales of US$775 million in the country in 2006. It has set a target to raise China sales to US$1 billion in 2010.