Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Ireland: Xtratherm has agreed to acquire Ballytherm’s Ireland and UK operations. The businesses include one polyisocyanurate (PIR) insulation plant in Ballyconnell, County Cavan and a new production unit that the company is preparing to open at Ross-on-Wye in the UK. The expansion is intended to expand the operations of Unilin Insulation, the owner of Xtratherm, in the UK and Ireland.

Barry Rafferty, the managing director of Xtratherm, said “The acquisition of Ballytherm, along with additional investment in new technologies will allow Xtratherm to deliver on operational excellence, new product innovations and improved service that will contribute towards a stronger and more sustainable future for our employees, customers and the construction sector in the UK and Ireland.” At present Xtratherm operates two foam insulation plants in Ireland and the UK respectively.

The proposed acquisition will be subject to the approval of competition authorities in Ireland. The transaction is expected to complete by the end of 2021.

US: Denmark-based Rockwool has commissioned its new Ranson stone wool insulation plant in Jefferson County, West Virginia and started commercial production. The company has hired 110 people to work at the 43,000m³ facility. It says that the plant will employ a total of 150 once production has ramped up in mid/late 2021. It is equipped with fuel-flexible melting technology, enabling operations to switch to natural gas from coal. This can reduce the plant’s CO₂ emissions by 30%, according to the company.

Chief executive officer Jens Birgersson said “In the US, as in Europe and Asia, there is a growing demand for Rockwool’s non-combustible, recyclable stone wool insulation. The West Virginia facility will help meet that demand in North America. We are proud that our products play such an important role in reducing the energy consumption and carbon emissions associated with buildings, and do so in a safe, sustainable manner.”

France: Denmark-based Rockwool plans to begin building a new stone wool insulation plant at Soissons, Aisne department in 2022. The new plant will use an 80%-reduced-CO₂ electric melting production method previously employed at Rockwool’s Moss insulation plant in Norway in 2020. The company says that, when commissioned in 2024, the new plant will generate 130 jobs.

France and Southern Europe regional managing director Rafael Rodriguez said, “We are pleased that our investment in Soissons will enable us to better support the government’s ambitious efforts as well as the social and economic development of the local communities. With our more than 40-year history in France, this new facility is a natural next step for us in a market that continues growing in importance.”

Malaysia: Knauf Insulation’s Johor Bahru mineral wool insulation plant has successfully exported its first batch of 80% recycled glass Earthwool glass mineral wool insulation to Perth, Australia. The product uses Knauf Insulation’s ECOSE Technology biological binder and is equipped with new improved clean facing. The company says that it uses compression packaging to optimise shipping volumes.

Chief operating officer David Ducarme said, “Johor Bahru is an extraordinary achievement of commitment from Knauf Insulation colleagues from around the world who came together to work with local teams in unprecedented pandemic circumstances - setting a gold standard in safety - to ensure the highest quality solutions are now available to customers.”

The Johor Bahru glass mineral wool insulation plant has a production capacity of 75,000t/yr and was originally scheduled for completion in 2020. It had an investment of Euro120m. It was built export insulation products to markets in Japan, Australia, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore.

Belgium: Etex is investing Euro1.2m on an upgrade to its Sint-Niklaas high performance insulation plant. The project is intended to increase the plant’s capacity by 30% in order to benefit cold supply chain markets currently supporting vaccine transport. The company estimates that it will generate over Euro6m in sales from its ‘high-performance, ultra-thin’ insulation products used in both building applications and passively cooled containers for vaccine transport.

Head of Industry Steven Heytens said “Our products contribute to global energy efficiency and create sustainable value for our customers. Driven by the European Union Green Deal, we expect the demand for thin insulation solutions for building and cool logistics applications to increase strongly in the coming years. This investment fits with our growth strategy and confirms our commitment to strengthening our European position in high performance microporous insulation.”

Austria: Austrotherm has launched a nationwide extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation cut-off collection service. The service will pick up waste XPS insulation from building sites for recycling in production at Austrotherm’s Purbach XPS insulation plant.

Technical director Heimo Pascher said “Our XPS sheets are ideal for recycling and can be fed back into the production process - this enables us to reduce CO₂ emissions and the consumption of resources in production. We are taking an important step in the direction of the circular economy.” He added “We have carefully analysed the savings effect. By recycling we reduce the CO₂ emissions in the disposal of construction site waste by at least 50%. With every tonne of XPS which we recycle, 1.80t of CO₂ can be saved. Or, to put it more impressively, every tonne of XPS that we recycle from construction sites saves as much CO₂ as around 148 European beech trees bind in a year.”

UK: YBS Insulation has received a loan worth Euro290,000. The producer plans to use the funds to realise planned growth. It plans to upgrade and increase capacity at its reflective insulation plant in Derbyshire. The Midland Investment Fund and East & South East Midlands Debt Finance Fund provided the loan.

Poland: Austria-based Austrotherm has launched production at its Grodków expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation plant following a capacity expansion. The total cost of the work was Euro5.5m.

Managing director Klaus Haberfellner said “We are particularly proud that, despite the adversities of the coronavirus epidemic, we have now been able to start full operation in Grodków. The demand for our high-quality EPS insulation panels has been growing steadily in Poland for years. This is due on the one hand to rising energy prices and on the other hand to the government smog control renovation subsidies programme launched in 2019.” He added "Thanks to the new plant, we are optimally positioned in terms of capacity to be able to supply our customers promptly."

Russia: Saint-Gobain has announced plans to build a 50,000t/yr-capacity stone wool plant in Siberia. The company says that the decision aims to help it better meet the growing needs of consumers in Siberia, Kazakhstan and the Far East. It will produce the insulation material using basalt. The total estimated cost of the project is around US$35m, with commissioning scheduled for 2023.

Russia, Ukraine and Commonwealth of Independent States regional chief executive officer Antoine Peyrude said, “The new production complex will allow us to better respond to the demands of the local market, whose demand for innovative energy-efficient solutions is constantly growing.”

Denmark: Rockwool recorded net sales of Euro2.60bn, down by 4% year-on-year in local currency terms. Profit for the year fell by 12% to Euro251m. Sales were supported in regions where construction was able to remain active throughout the coronavirus lockdowns. The company noted a strong recovery in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Chief executive officer Jens Birgersson said, “Looking back on a turbulent year, we are proud of how well our colleagues handled the many challenges. Our teams ensured employees were safe while quickly adjusting operations, sales and service to match the changing needs of our customers.”

The company plans to make Euro370m of investments, excluding acquisitions in 2021. Planned investments include a new plant in the US and a plant relocation in China, in addition to capacity expansions for its Rockfon and Grodan stone wool businesses.

The group said, “The underlying medium to long-term structural growth drivers for stone wool products are even stronger today than at the start of 2020. On top of fundamental trends like urbanisation and increasingly tighter building regulations, we expect that several other trends will continue driving growth in our business. For example, the growing focus on energy efficiency, fire safety and circularity continues to influence the decisions of consumers, the building industry and policymakers, with the pandemic accelerating these trends in multiple ways.”