Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

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.

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.

US: Knauf Insulation has been granted a building permit to construct an US$8.7m warehouse and logistics facility in Shelbyville in the US state of Indiana. At a tax abatement hearing, local attorney Lee McNeely, who represented Knauf, told the Shelbyville Common Council that the building is part of an expansion that will bring back a major line producing light fibreglass to the insulation producing plant, known as the 602 line.

"The warehouse will replace an old manufacturing building," said Joey Viselli, vice president of marketing for Knauf. "It just gives us a lot more flexibility to have a warehouse on site," he said.

The building was the subject of a tax abatement request in November 2011, which was granted by the council. According to the tax abatement documentation, Knauf plans to tear down an existing building and then build the new 285,000ft², pre-fabricated metal warehouse and office space. Knauf's main US office is located in the same town.

The abatement documentation further added that, "Knauf intends to demolish an existing structure and build a new warehousing and office facility in order to support additional production for a growing customer base."

Knauf reported the total cost of the project to be US$10.9m. The City of Shelbyville permit is for US$8.7m in construction. The project is expected to add about eight jobs, creating an additional payroll of US$319,000.

In June 2011 Knauf closed its plant in Lanett, Alabama with the loss of 146 jobs. At the time, a company spokesman had said that Knauf was affected by an ongoing slump in housing construction. Viselli said that the closure of the Alabama plant is one element that changes the demands placed on the Shelbyville location.

US: Johns Manville (JM) officially broke ground on a new commercial roofing single ply membrane manufacturing facility in Milan, Ohio on 8 July 2011. The production facility will manufacture ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) roofing products beginning in the second quarter of 2012.

During the groundbreaking ceremony - which hosted local officials, members of the Milan community, media and JM leadership - JM Chairman, President and CEO, Todd Raba noted that "This is a great day for JM and it's really incredibly gratifying to see the level of community support. JM has a strong presence in the state of Ohio and we are excited to be part of the Milan community." This facility marks the company's third facility in Ohio, with representation in three lines of its North American businesses of Insulation Systems, Engineered Products and Roofing Systems.

Raba also noted that, "This is the right time to invest in enhancing our product portfolio and JM now has one of the broadest offerings of commercial roofing products in the industry."

"Everything starts with our customers," stated Bob Wamboldt, vice president and general manager of JM's Roofing Systems business. "With over USD125m invested in our commercial roofing business over the past five years, this is really the crowning jewel of a five-year effort. JM has dedicated substantial resources to underscore our commitment to the single ply business and ensure a strong future for our customers in this segment of the commercial roofing industry."