Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

France: Saint-Gobain has named Dirk de Meulder as director of Isover in France and CEO of Eurocoustic France. Dirk de Meulder, aged 54, started his career at the glass materials business of Saint-Gobain in Belgium. In 2009, he joined Isover as director general in Sweden and Denmark.

France: Saint-Gobain and EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) have signed an agreement whereby EBRD will increase its participation in Saint-Gobain Construction Products Rus LLC from its current stake of 11% to 33%.

The EBRD equity injection will contribute to financing Saint-Gobain Construction Products' planned investments in Russia for the next three years, including projects in the gypsum, industrial mortars and insulation activities in several regions.

The investments will reflect the Environmental and Social Action Plan that was agreed with EBRD, thereby reaffirming the commitment of Saint-Gobain Group to the highest standards in environmental performance, corporate governance and business conduct.

This operation will contribute to the acceleration of Saint-Gobain's development in Russia, in alignment with the Group's strategy of strengthening its position in fast growing markets.

France: Multinational chemical producer Arkema has patented the use of Forane(R) 1233zd as a blowing agent in the manufacture of polyurethane foams. The new molecule, known in its development phase as AFA-L1, is high purity trans-1-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropene, a liquid halogenated olefin. It offers improvements in energy performance and environmental benefits over existing blowing agents.

"In all of these evaluations, in several different polyurethane foam applications, Forane(R) 1233zd blowing agent has consistently demonstrated outstanding ease of use," noted Nancy Storoz, Global Business Manager for Arkema fluorochemicals foams and 134a refrigerants, "It requires minimal equipment modifications and formulation changes, while outperforming HCFCs, HFCs and hydrocarbons in terms of energy efficiency, R value, and vapor pressure."

In trials at a manufacturer of household refrigerators and freezers, an unoptimised system based on Forane(R) 1233zd blowing agent delivered a 3% improvement in energy efficiency versus HFC 245fa and surpassed 2014 DOE energy standards. In other evaluations conducted by Arkema, Forane(R) 1233zd blowing agent provided a 6% improvement in insulation value versus HFC 245fa, a 7% improvement versus HCFC 141b, and a 16% improvement versus hydrocarbons.

Target markets for Forane(R) 1233zd blowing agent include polyurethane foams used in the manufacture of household refrigerators and freezers, commercial refrigeration, spray foam, and polyurethane panels for commercial and residential building and construction applications.

France: Etex has invested Euro25m towards upgrading four of its French Siniat polystyrene factories plants in its gypsum division. The investment is intended to reinforce Siniat's market share of exterior polystyrene-backed plasterboards for insulation.

Euro12m has been allocated to the Rantigny plant to raise its annual production capacity of back liners and insulating façade panels to 500,000m3. Euro7m will go to the Château-Gontier factory plant and Euro5.5m to the Loriol plant to expand and automate production capacity. Euro0.5m will be used to complete the production line at the Villeneuve-sur-Lot plant.

France: Saint-Gobain has posted a net income of Euro1.3bn for 2011, a rise of 14% from Euro1.1bn in 2010. The group has attributed this to strong demand for its building materials in emerging markets combined with its ability to pass higher raw material costs to customers in the form of higher prices.

Recurring net income spiked to Euro1.7bn in 2011, a 30% rise from Euro1.3bn in 2010. Operating income rose to Euro3.4bn, a 10% rise compared to Euro3.1bn. Group sales increased to Euro42bn, a 5% rise from Euro40bn.

"We managed to limit the impact of the strong increase of raw material and energy thanks to the increase of the prices of our products," said chief executive Pierre-Andre de Chalendar.

De Chalendar added that he expects a moderated growth of revenues in 2012 as the company intends to continue transferring higher costs to its products' prices. He declined to give specific data, though he said the growth will be slower than the 5% in 2011.

In its Interior Solutions division (which includes insulation) the group recorded sales of Euro5.5bn for 2011, a rise of 6.1% from Euro5.2bn in 2010. Operating income met Euro450m in 2011, a rise of 19% from Euro380m. Notably capital expenditure increased to Euro330m, a rise of 70% from Euro190m. Overall the group doubled investment spending for 2011, in energy efficiency and energy markets, to almost Euro900m.

Sales volumes for Interior Solutions were up in all geographic areas, particularly in the US, Asia and emerging countries. In Western Europe and especially France, trading continued to be buoyed by stricter energy performance regulations.

Saint-Gobain's CEO has announced an ambitious expansion plan to boost total revenues to Euro55bn and net profit to Euro3bn by 2015, through acquisitions and organic growth. The company said the plan to spin off its unit Verallia is still being considered, but market conditions are not favourable in the short term.