Spain: Coemac, which was previously known as Uralita SA, has completed the sale of its insulation division to financial creditors led by KKR, an American multinational private equity company. Financial creditors acquired 90% of URSA Insulation Holding BV, while Coemac kept a 10% stake, according to Reuters.

Kazakhstan: An insulation plant caught fire in Utegen Batir Village, Ili on 21 September 2015. Seven vehicles and 35 firefighters responded to combat the fire, which, according to preliminary data, encompassed a 1800m² area.

Russia: TechnoNicol intends to invest Euro65.3m to establish a cluster of automated insulation materials plants in Khabarovsk, Russia.

The project is expected to generate more than 270 new jobs. The units, which will utilise stone wool and extruded polystyrene foam to produce insulation materials, is expected to support domestic demand, reduce the cost of construction products by 25% and improve the energy-efficiency of buildings in the region by 46%. TechnoNicol also plans to increase its exports to the Asia Pacific region and the Americas.

Czech Republic: Expanded polystyrene (EPS) consumption in the Czech Republic rose by 5% year-on-year to 29,700t in the first half of 2015, according data reported to the Czech News Agency by the Czech EPS Association. The association is expecting EPS consumption to follow the trend in 2014 and also surpass 60,000t in 2015. The increase has been attributed to growth in the construction sector and by state subsidy programmes that support building insulation systems.

"In the second half of the year, the subsidies drawn from the New Green Savings Programme (the Environment Ministry's programme focused on energy savings and renewable energy sources in family houses) should become evident. People are starting working on their insulation and given that the weather is favourable, consumption can be expected to exceed 62,000t," said Pavel Zemene, head of the association.

In 2014, 60,850t of EPS were consumed in the Czech Republic. The highest level of EPS consumption was 66,000t in 2011. The Czech Republic is one of the European Union's leading countries for per capita consumption of EPS, beating Germany, Spain, France and Italy.