Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Italy: TechnoNicol has strengthened its position in Western Europe with the acquisition of an Italian insulation and waterproofing producer, Italiana Membrane. TechnoNicol has said that it intends to invest in small upgrades aimed at increasing production efficiency and reducing costs at its new Italian business over the next two years.

Italiana Membrane runs several production plants that manufacture a range of roofing and waterproofing bitumen modified membranes, which are sold in Italy and 50 other countries. The company exports around 35% of its output, mainly to markets in North and Latin America, Scandinavia and the Middle East. In 2011, its annual turnover amounted to Euro50m.

"The acquisition of Italiana Membrane allows us to not only increase exports, but it gives TechnoNicol the opportunity to take a significant niche in the western markets," said TechnoNicol's president Sergei Kolesnikov. Prior to the takeover, TechnoNicol held talks with Italian trade unions and reached an agreement on the number of Italiana Membrane workers it would employ and future pay levels.

The Italian firm's main plant has a production capacity of 20Mm2/yr. It operates three polymer-bitumen material lines; one line produces roofing shingles made of APP modified bitumen reinforced with non-woven polyester and glass fibre; another turning out heat insulation and waterproofing panels and a sixth line producing waterproofing liquids.

Russia: TechnoNicol Corporation is expanding its insulation materials capacity at an existing plant in Yurga in the Kemerovo Region of southern Russia with investments totalling Euro18.6m. This includes the launch, which is due in 2015, of a new 200,000m³/yr XPS line. The line cost around Euro7.45m and will produce the company's full range of TechnoNicol XPS products. Its installation is set to meet growing demand for insulation products associated with major regional infrastructure projects, including the 29th Winter Universiade being held in Krasnoyarsk in 2019, as well as road construction and oil and gas industry infrastructure schemes.

In September 2014 TechnoNocil is due to complete another Euro9.4m investment at Yurga plant with the upgrade of its basalt wool insulation, leading to a 29% increase in output. Products from the plant will be targeted at Russian regions including western and eastern Siberia and the central Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous region, as well as eastern Kazakhstan, north-western China and Mongolia, according to TechNicol's CEO Vladimir Markov.

Kazakhstan/China/Russia: Russia's TechnoNicol will invest Euro12.4m to build a 300,000m²/yr capacity extruded polystyrene foam (XPS) insulation plant in the Karaganda Region of Kazakhstan. The plant will start production in 2016. Its products will be supplied to all regions of Kazakhstan and south Asia.

Tartarstan: TechnoNICOL has announced that it is going to invest Euro4.24m towards upgrading mineral wool production at a plant in Tatarstan.

TechnoNICOL's plant in Zainsk will increase its capacity by 20%. Currently the plant has two production lines with a total capacity of 140,000t/yr. The plant started operation in 2007.

TechnoNICOL was founded in 1993 as a producer and supplier of insulating materials. It has representations in 33 countries and maintains 35 production sites in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Czech Republic and Lithuania.