Saint-Gobain, a French multinational corporation, has broken ground on its new glass mat plant at its CertainTeed Roofing campus in Oxford, North Carolina (NC), marking the company’s largest ever investment in a roofing facility in the US.

The glass mat facility will complement Saint-Gobain’s global Grow and Impact Strategy that aims to fast-track its presence in important and fast-growing markets.

The $167million glass mat manufacturing plant is expected to help Saint-Gobain to meet the growing demand for its product following the increasing customer base in the southeastern US.

Apart from supporting Saint-Gobain’s global vision of carbon neutrality by 2050, the project is said to leverage a new technology and automation to increase employee safety and sustainability.

Carmen Bodden — CertainTeed Roofing Vice President said: “Our goal is for this plant to be the new industry standard – it will utilize cutting edge energy and water reduction technology, as well as innovative automation.”

The glass mat facility in Oxford has received more than $700,000 in incentives and grants from the State of North Carolina, including funds from the One North Carolina Fund and a Rural Division Building Reuse Grant.

Glass mat is composed of short fiberglass filaments and is a key component in roofing shingles production.

The start of construction at the glass mat plant in North Carolina follows Saint-Gobain’s acquisition of GCP Applied Technologies in September and Kaycan in August.

The French company invested $100 million to expand its CertainTeed roofing facility in Peachtree City, Georgia, and announced an investment of $28 million in its ADFORS technical textile products facility in Dublin, Georgia in May.

In February, Saint-Gobain invested $32 million in its CertainTeed insulation manufacturing plant in Chowchilla, California to augment the facility’s manufacturing capacity by 13% while minimizing its carbon emissions.

Saint-Gobain with €44.2 billion in sales in 2021, employs around167,000 people across 75 countries.

  Carmen Bodden, CertainTeed, glass mat, North Carolina, Oxford, Saint-Gobain