Corning restarting production at Wilmington plant

Specialty glass maker Corning Inc (GLW.N) was resuming production at its Wilmington optical fiber plant on Monday after it was disrupted by a fire Sunday, company spokesman Dan Collins said.

Corning, the largest maker of optical fiber and glass for liquid crystal displays, said it does not expect any disruption in its ability to meet customer demand as a result of the incident.

The blaze was brought under control more than an hour after it started and work to resume operations began Sunday evening, Collins said, adding that the plant was expected to be fully operational by late Monday.

"Full normal operations will resume once the repair and clean-up in that part of the plant is complete, which we think will happen quickly," another Corning representative said.

The plant, built in 1966, was the world´s first optical fiber manufacturing facility and today has the largest optical fiber manufacturing capacity in the industry, according to Corning´s website. It employs about 1,000 workers.

Telecommunications companies such as Verizon Communications (VZ.N) typically use optical fiber for their fiber-to-the-home cable and wireless networks, which are beginning to displace copper wires as the dominant means of transmission.

There were about 150 employees at the factory when the fire broke out, Plant Manager Karl Ehemann told the Wilmington StarNews, adding the employees were evacuated and no one was injured.

He said the fire was the result of a malfunction with a piece of glass-making equipment, which produces intense heat.

Collins said Corning would move quickly to repair ductwork damaged by the "relatively minor" fire in the newest part of the plant located on the north side of Wilmington.

The company declined to discuss how much production was lost.

Shares of Corning were up 0.4 percent at $19.47 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday afternoon.