The first furnace for basalt fiber production was commenced into operation at a new Mafic USA facility in late July, 2020. The production facility was set up in Shelby, North Carolina (US). Mafic started construction in 2016 with investments amounted to $ 20 million.
The facility will be capable of producing 6,000 metric tons of basalt fiber annually that is nearly 30% of the current global output of basalt fiber. In addition, it is the first such facility in North America and Mafic is set to commence operations at a few more facilities in the US.
Mafic focuses on saturating the market with basalt fiber and aims to spur its application in the industries where basalt fiber and basalt fiber composites are highly desirable but were sluggishly introduced due to a lack of quality products. Basalt fiber produced by Mafic SA, for example, was used to build a bridge in the Netherlands.
Mafic was considering several locations for their production facility when settled on Cleveland County where it gained support of the government of all levels – state, county and city. An abandoned building of an obsolete factory, thanks to a partnership between business and authorities, has turned into a state of the art enterprise fully equipped with the latest technology.
While disruptions in the supply chain are anticipated due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Mafic managed to keep on the schedule of work and the launch date. Currently, the manufacturer is hiring the personnel to operate the facility on the 24-hours/day, 7-days/week basis.
Mafic USA is the US subsidiary of Mafic Inc. (Ontario, Canada) founded in 2012. Mafic supplies consumers of the automotive, aerospace, alternative energy and other industries. The company currently manufactures basalt fiber products in Ireland and continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites in Canada.