Central Glass Co., Ltd. is based on Ube Soda Industry Co., Ltd. which was established in Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1936. After commercializing fertilizer based on soda products, the company entered the glass business in 1958 and changed its name to Central Glass Co., Ltd. in 1963.

Today, our company operates in a wide range of fields, including architectural glass, automotive glass, chemicals, fertilizers, fine chemicals, and glass fiber, and continues to make daily efforts to meet the diverse needs of society.

From 1936

Ube Soda Industry Co., Ltd. was established in Ube City, Yamaguchi.

1936	Ube Soda Industry Co., Ltd. was established in Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
1940	Started production of soda ash.
1949	Listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange.

From 1950

Expansion into fertilizer and glass businesses
Company name changed

1953	Part of the soda ash production facility was converted to the ammonium chloride soda process, and the Company started by production of fertilizer grade ammonium chloride simultaneously.
1958	Established the former Central Glass Co., Ltd. and launched the glass business.
1959	Former Central Glass Co., Ltd. constructed Sakai Plant［Currently Central Glass Products Co., Ltd. ("CGP")］and started production of flat glass.
1960	Development and production of compound fertilizer based on ammonium chloride.
1963	Ube Soda Industry Co., Ltd. merged with the former Central Glass and the company name was changed to Central Glass Co., Ltd. Established Central Chemical Co., Ltd. as a joint venture with Tonen Corp. Construction of Matsusaka Plant (CGP) and start production of safety glass.
1964	Production of polished glass by the duplex process started at Matsusaka Plant (CGP).
1967	Production of figured glass started at Matsusaka Plant (CGP).
1969	Production of flat glass using the float process started at Matsusaka Plant (CGP).

From 1970

Expansion of chemical products and glass fiber business

1971	Established Central Glass Fiber Co., Ltd. for manufacturing glass fiber.
1973	Established the Glass Research Center and the Chemical Research Center (Currently Fundamental Chemical Research Center and New-STEP Research Center).
1974	Completed production facility for hydrofluoric acid at Ube Plant.
1978	Established the Ube Research Center (Currently Applied Chemical Research Center).

From 1980

Leveraging fluorination technology for development in fine chemical business.

1982	Started production of flat glass by using float method at Sakai Plant (CGP).
1984	Completed multi-purpose production facility for organic fluorine compounds at the Ube Plant.
1988	Completed multi-purpose production facility for high purity fluorine gases at the Ube Plant. Spun off the fertilizer production division and established Central Chemical Co., Ltd.
1989	Established Central Glass America Inc. in the United States and through it, established Carlex Glass Company as a joint venture with Ford Motor Company Group for manufacturing and selling automotive glass.
1991	Established Central Glass International, Inc. in the United States.
1994	Completed production facility exclusively for a pharmaceutical drug substance at Ube Plant.
1996	Established Japan Vietnam Fertilizer Company as a joint venture with the purpose of manufacturing fertilizer in Vietnam.

From 2000

Withdrawal and Growth of the Chemicals Business
Structural Improvement of the Glass Business

2002	Acquired SynQuest Laboratories, Inc. a contract lab venture for fluorinated chemicals in the United States. Built a partnership with French Saint-Gobain Group in the automotive glass business and established Central Saint-Gobain Co., Ltd. as a joint marketing and sales company for automotive glass.
2003	Merged Central Chemical and restructured it as the Kawasaki Plant. Established Central Glass Europe Limited in the UK and through it, acquired equity in Apollo Scientific Limited, a British fine chemical company.
2005	Acquired equity in Giga Gas & Electronic Materials Company in Taiwan and made the company a subsidiary of Central Glass.
2008	Established Central Glass Chemspec Company Ltd. in China as a joint venture for the purpose of manufacturing fine chemical products.
2011	Acquired assets and business partially from Zeledyne LLC, and established Carlex Glass America, LLC, in the United States for manufacuturing and selling flat glass and automotive glass.
2012	Established Central Glass Korea Co., Ltd. in Korea for selling, importing and exporting of our products and allied products.
2014	Established JCEL Co., Ltd. in Korea for production, sales and technical services of electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries. Acquired two subsidiaries from Guardian Industries Corp. in the United States and established Carlex Glass of Indiana, Inc. and Carlex Glass Luxembourg S.A. for manufacturing and selling automotive glass.
2015	Central Glass Tokyo Co., Ltd. absorbed the architectural glass sales companies in each area and changed its name to Central Glass Sales Co., Ltd. Stopped the soda ash production.
2017	Automotive glass manufacturer Carlex Glass America, LLC absorbed Carlex Glass Company, LLC and Carlex Glass of Indiana, Inc. Established Central Glass Czech s.r.o. in Czech Republic for manufacturing and sales electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries.
2021	Stopped the figured glass production at Matsusaka Plant (CGP).
2022	Stopped the flat glass production at Matsusaka plant Sakai manufacturing site (CGP). Established Central Glass Products Co., Ltd. Transfer of all shares (equity) of Carlex Glass America, LLC and Carlex Glass Luxembourg S.A. to a special purpose company established by Atlas Holdings LLC.
2023	Liquidated Central Glass America, Inc. Domestic architectural glass and automotive glass business was split and transferred to Central Glass Products Co., Ltd.