Chinese Composite Materials Firm Opens Texas Facility

PGTEX, a Chinese producer of advanced materials, fabrics, and composites for the wind energy industry, has established its first North American manufacturing facility in El Paso, TX, local news publication El Paso Inc. reported Monday.

Founded in 1998 and based in Changzhou in China’s Jiangsu province, PGTEX – also known as the Changzhou Hongfa zongheng Advanced material technology Co. Ltd. – is China’s largest domestic producer of glass reinforced fabrics at an annual capacity of 80,000 mt, according to PGTEX’s website. 35% of the market share in China for reinforced glass fabrics used in wind turbine blades is held by the company.

“El Paso’s location is a great advantage,” company spokesperson Sharon Xue said in an interview with El Paso Inc. “It is centrally located between Canada and Mexico and the East Coast and West Coast. That means our production plant in El Paso can serve our customers across North America and South America.”

PGTEX has invested $6.7 million in the Texas facility known as “Far East El Paso” so far, according to the article. The company said it plans on investing an additional $11 million in the plant over the next four years as the North American renewable energy market expands.

The company expects to offer about 150 jobs at the 50,320-sq-ft facility by 2020, and PGTEX intends to expand the size of the plant over the next four years.

The Chinese composites producer chose El Paso partially because one of its longest-running customers, wind turbine maker TPI Composites Inc., operates a manufacturing facility in nearby Juarez, Mexico, PGTEX’s spokesperson told El Paso Inc.. TPI is constructing another manufacturing facility that will double its production.

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