US/Denmark: The board of directors at Denmark's Rockwool have approved a plan to establish the group's first production facility in the United States. The new plant will be constructed in Marshall County, Mississippi, approximately 50km from Memphis, Tennessee. Subject to the successful completion of due diligence in the coming months, the plant is expected to be ready in 2014 and will, when reaching full capacity, be able to deliver more than 100,000t/yr of stone wool insulation. The investment is expected to total around Euro125m.
Commenting on the expansion, Rockwool CEO Eelco van Heel said, "We have seen strong interest from big DIY chains to offer our products to their customers. The unique thermal, acoustic and fire safe qualities of our stone wool insulation are appreciated by their customers. With this new plant in the southern part of the US, we are happy to expand our geographical coverage to new regions of the continent where we are currently not present. The additional capacity will also support our strong growth in other key insulation markets such as commercial buildings, flat roofs and industrial applications".
Rockwool has seen good sales growth in North America in recent years despite the otherwise troubled US construction sector. To date the US market has been serviced from the group's two factories in Canada. In 2011 sales in North America accounted for 8% of total group sales. This share is expected to grow in the coming years.
