Asahi Glass Co. announced that subsidiary Asahimas Chemical has shipped the first polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from an expansion of its Cilegon, Indonesia, facility. The project, costing approximately USD 400 million, increased caustic soda capacity to 700 kta from 500 kta, doubled vinyl chloride monomer capacity to 800 kta from 400 kta and increased PVC capacity to 550 kta from 300 kta. Asahi Glass, which holds a 52.5% interest in Asahimas Chemical, indicated that commercial production will be launched during the first quarter of this year. Other partners in the venture are Rodamas (18%), Ableman Finance (18%) and Mitsubishi Corp. (11.5%).