OWENS CORNING and RheTech Inc have signed a licensing agreement under which RheTech will manufacture and sell in North America a proprietary long fibre glass polyolefin thermoplastic developed by Owens Corning. with the product marketed under the RHEMAX trade name.

RheTech plans to begin production of RHEMAX products in the third quarter of 2005 at a facility in Michigan using PerforMax®, a roving developed by Owens Corning for long fibre polyolefin compounding.

First introduced in the 1990s, this long fibre product has been used in the European automotive industry in front-end modules, dashboard carriers, door modules and under-body shielding.