"This investment demonstrates our continuous dedication to the global reinforcements industry," said Luc Mechelaere, vice president and general manager of Johns Manville Europe. "We are committed to meeting our customers' demands and ready to develop with them the products of the future."

"We are extremely proud of the work done on this furnace by our technical and manufacturing people in Slovakia and of the support they received from JM's technology organization on a global basis," said Emmanuel Polešensky, head of the board of directors of JM Skloplast. "The new automated finished goods transport system, production control systems and direct spin systems are truly state-of-art and will go a long ways toward meeting our customers' expectations today and into the future."

Johns Manville Skloplast, acquired in February 2001 as part of the European operations of Johns Manville, manufactures glass rovings, chopped strands and chopped strand mats for the plastic reinforcement sector, rovings for textile glass fabrics, and glass fiber nonwovens for the roofing industry.

Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is a leading manufacturer and marketer of premium-quality building and specialty products. In business since 1858, the Denver, USA-based company has sales in excess of $2 billion and holds leadership positions in all of the key markets that it serves. Johns Manville employs approximately 10,000 people worldwide and operates 55 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and Asia. Johns Manville Europe has over 2,800 employees at 12 European and Asian manufacturing facilities located in Wertheim, Bobingen, Berlin, Karlstein and Steinach, Germany; Lubliniec, Poland; Helsingborg and Oskarstrom, Sweden; St. Helens, U.K; Trnava, Slovakia and Changzhou and Shanghai, China. Additional information can be found at www.jm.com.

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