SINCE September, architects and engineers have needed to look no further than Dubai for their glass requirements. The $19 million Emirates Glass processing factory is open for business and the first sheets of coated glass are rolling off the production line.

Given the Gulf's fascination with the high-rise, glass-clad tower block, it's surprising that it did not happen earlier.

And if the company's marketing strategy fulfills expectations, the output will grace skyscrapers as far away as China and Singapore as well the landmark buildings of the Gulf.

Located in the Al-Quoz industrial area in Dubai, the plant is the largest of its type between Italy and Singapore, with annual production capacity of 1.5 million square metres. Emirates Glass is a 60:40 partnership between Dubai Investments and local businessman Abdulla Saeed Thani. Its main asset is a 65-metre magnetron sputtering vacuum depository (MSVD) machine, supplied by Germany's Leybold, which can apply high performance coatings on float glass from 3-12 millimetres in thickness.

MSVD technology transfers particles from a chosen target onto glass in a specially created plasma environment. By using a variety of different targets, gases and tints of glass substrate, hundreds of different shades of reflective coatings can be produced. Other equipment at the site includes a tempering furnace, computerised glass leading and cutting machines, and a fully automated glass production line.

The growing use of architectural glass in local construction comes amid a growing awareness among developers of the need to conserve energy. 'The construction industry in the UAE and other parts of the world are getting more and more energy conscious and are demanding high heat reflectance and low emissivity for glass to minimise plant and energy costs,' Thani says.

Current demand in the Gulf is estimated at 1 million square metres a year, about half of it in the UAE. As in many other sectors of the regional building industry, international suppliers have dominated - something that Emirates Glass is keen to change. In the first year of production, it is aiming to capture a 30-40 per cent share of the market by offering a competitively-priced, quality product, backed up by strong technical support.

Emirates Glass is also targeting regional and international markets for about half of its output. Particular attention is being paid to the Far East, where high performance glass demand in Vietnam, the Philippines, China, Singapore and Hong Kong totals 100,000 square metres a week. A sales push into the area will be assisted by one of the quirks of the international shipping business. Transport costs to Hong Kong are extremely low at about $200 a container because of slack demand on the Gulf-Far East shipping route. This compares with a truck consignment into Saudi Arabia at $680.