Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

UK: SIG’s revenue has fallen by 1.4% year-on-year to Euro3.13bn in 2015 from Euro3.36bn in 2014. Its profit before tax fell by 11.2% to Euro113m from Euro128m. It blamed the fall in revenue on foreign currency effects.

“While making good progress on the Strategic Initiatives and infill acquisition programme, we were disappointed by the Group’s 2015 performance, having been adversely affected by weak trading conditions in Mainland Europe and the UK RMI market, as well as movements in foreign exchange,” said Stuart Mitchell, Chief Executive of SIG.

The building materials producer’s sales revenue for its insulation and energy management division fell by 3.1% to Euro1.49bn from Euro1.54bn. Sales by region increased overall in the UK and Ireland in 2015 due to the new build residential sector in the UK. In mainland Europe sales fell in 2015 notably in France, Germany, Austria and Poland.

In 2015 SIG acquired Multijoint SA in Switzerland and Ainsworth Group in the UK. Both companies are distributors of insulation and associated materials.

Germany/Japan: Covestro and Nanodax have signed an agreement on the development of new polycarbonate composites reinforced with mineral wool. Nanodax has developed a special process for the manufacture of these products that uses mineral wool as reinforcing filler for plastics. It has a small diameter and is more flexible than glass fibres.

“Our development cooperation is targeting diverse application areas for polycarbonates reinforced with mineral wool, and will open up new prospects for both companies. In particular, we are aiming at advantages in surface appearance and material processing. Cost reductions for customers are expected through an optimised injection moulding manufacturing process,” said Michael Schmidt, Head of Business Development for Polycarbonates Asia Pacific at Covestro.

The joint development work will be performed primarily at Covestro’s Polymer Research & Development Center (PRDC) in Shanghai, China.

Covestro, formerly Bayer MaterialScience, is a global supplier of polycarbonates and has expertise in their processing and application. Nanodax is a venture company with a portfolio including heating-style glass wool charging system technology, a special additive on the nano level, incombustible, ultra lightweight glass wool board with very good thermal insulation properties, and sound isolation.

Romania: Proinvest Group will complete a Euro10m sandwich panel plant in 2018. The first phase of the project, worth Euro3m, was completed in February 2016 with the commissioning of the first production line for sandwich panels with mineral wool core for roof and walls. The line has a capacity of 1Mm²/yr. The second phase of the project will be completed in 2018 with the commissioning of a new production line of sandwich panels, the company said in a press release.

The Romanian steel processing company is based in Pascani, northeastern Romania. It owns four plants and has more than 350 employees.

Denmark: Rockwool has reported that its profit fell by 19% year-on-year to Euro91m in 2015 from Euro113m in 2014. Its net sales rose slightly to Euro2.21bn from Euro2.18bn. The fall in profit was attributed to write-downs of Euro21.4m in India and China as well as severance costs of Euro15.4m in connection with restructuring measures. Rockwool expects sales revenue to continue to grow in 2016.

For its insulation business, Rockwool’s sales fell slightly to Euro1.67bn in 2015 from Euro1.68bn in 2014 due to a difficult market in Russia and further negative effects due to currency effects. Operating profit remained static at Euro99m, with the exclusion of the write-downs and severance costs.

France: Saint-Gobain’s net income has risen by 36% year-on-year to Euro1.3bn in 2015 from Euro953m in 2014. Its sales revenue rose by 3.3% to 39.6bn from 3.4bn. However, its overall sales volumes remained static with only 0.1% growth. Growth in the company’s Flat Glass and Interior Solutions divisions, including wallboard and insulation, held up sales despite sharp declines in sales in France.

“Saint-Gobain delivered improved earnings in 2015 in a sharply contrasted economic climate. The improvement was dampened by continued weak trading in France, hurt in particular by the sharp contraction in our Pipe division in the second half of the year, despite the first signs of an upturn in construction indicators. The group completed a key stage in the reorganisation of its business portfolio, with the sale of Verallia on very favourable terms, and continues to pursue its plan to acquire a controlling interest in Sika after obtaining all antitrust approvals prior to closing the deal,” said Pierre-André de Chalendar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Saint-Gobain.

The group’s Interior Solutions division reported a 7.1% rise in sales revenue to Euro6.49bn from Euro6.06bn. Reduced volumes and prices in the French market slowed growth in Western Europe, although this impact eased in the fourth quarter of 2015. Trading in North America was dented by a slight dip in prices in the second half and by the decline in the Canadian market. Asia and emerging countries continued to deliver growth.