LG.Philips LCD Begins Building Poland Plant

LG.Philips LCD, the world’s second-largest manufacturer of liquid crystal displays, said Thursday it has begun construction of a 429 million euro plant in Poland, aimed at gaining the upper hand in the fastgrowing European flat-panel television market.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Kobierzyce, near the southwestern city of Wroclaw, where the new plan will be built, LG.Philips said.

The plant will produce modules for LCD televisions and computer monitors. By the first half of 2007, LG.Philips plans to complete building the first production line, which will have an annual capacity of three million units.

If construction of the entire plant is completed by 2011 as planned, the production capacity will rise to 11 million units a year, LG.Philips has said previously. On Monday, LG.Philips cut its forecast for television panel shipment growth by half, prompting an industry-wide plunge in share prices.

Source: