Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

China: Zotefoams, which produces cellular material technology, has entered into a new venture with China's King Lai Group to manufacture and sell insulation products. The new venture will be called ZOTEK King Lai (ZKL).

Zotefoams and King Lai have a previous long-standing relationship for the sale of T-Tubes in China. Building on the success of T-Tubes clean-room insulation products for biotech, pharmaceutical and semiconductor plants, ZKL will offer a local supply to the market in China and a more rapid response to other markets including Asia, India and the Middle East.

ZKL is owned 51% by Zotefoams and 49% by King Lai. Manufacturing will be located in King Lai's plant in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, China. The manufacturing of products made from Zotefoams' ZOTEK foam materials is expected to begin in the second half of 2015. Sales activity in China will be the direct responsibility of ZKL, using King Lai as the exclusive distributor, while all sales to customers outside China will be the responsibility of Zotefoams Operations Ltd in Thailand.

"I am delighted to extend our relationship with King Lai. Its commitment to operational excellence and strong position in products for clean-room markets make King Lai an ideal partner to accelerate the development of our unique materials," said David Stirling, managing director of Zotefoams.

US: Johns Manville (JM) has announced plans to expand the capacity at its Scottsboro, Alabama, thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) plant. The state-of-the-art TPO plant was first opened in October 2008. JM will complete the expansion in April 2015, increasing its total TPO production capacity by 20%.

JM's TPO formulation has remained unchanged since its launch and has proven to be durable under real-world conditions of heat and ultra-violet (UV) exposure. "Commercial Roofers Inc began installing TPO more than 10 years ago. We have found it to be installer-friendly and energy compliant. It has a long, useful life expectancy and is cost effective. This provides great benefits for the building owner," said Scott Howard, president of Commercial Roofers Inc.

US: Johns Manville has announced that its director of marketing and single ply systems Jennifer Ford-Smith was recently appointed to the 2015 Women in Roofing (WinR) leadership team. WinR is a council of the Midwest Roofing Contractors Association (MRCA). While the MRCA serves the interests of roofing contractors and the overall industry for the US Midwest region, they are also serving as a national platform for the WinR.

Hungary/Ukraine: Hungarian building materials manufacturer Masterplast has seen its earnings fall in 2014 after the worsening Ukraine crisis forced it to write off investment plans for a new expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation plant in the country.

Masterplast has reported that its annual net income dropped by 38% year-on-year to Euro749,000 in 2014. Without the enforced Ukraine write-off, the company had expected its post-tax profit to reach Euro1.6m. Masterplast, which has a growing string of plants in eastern Europe, has reported that its 2014 revenue was flat at Euro81.6m, while its annual operating profit fell by 1% year-on-year to Euro2.7m.

Masterplast had planned to invest Euro1.4m to set up a new EPS insulation plant at Lviv in the far west of Ukraine, where it had bought and converted existing industrial premises. It expected to become Ukraine's third-largest player in the thermal insulation segment within three years. However, early in 2014 Masterplast suspended its national investment and project for the EPS and adhesives plant. With the situation deteriorating further since then, it has decided not to restart its expansion scheme until Ukraine's political and economic position has stabilised.

US: USI, a national provider of installed insulation and related services to builders, contractors and homeowners, has announced the acquisition of Cardalls Insulation, a Utah-based full-line insulation services contractor.

Founded in 2001 by Joe Cardall, family-run Cardalls Insulation has shown steady growth and employs approximately 125 personnel across four offices. After closing, Joe Cardall will become branch manager.

"We are excited to increase our service presence in Utah and Idaho with this acquisition," said L W Varner Jr, president and CEO of USI. "The prospect of bringing Cardalls' expertise, valued people and assets to USI is a significant opportunity for us. We expect a smooth transition and enhanced value for both our current and future customers." Varner added that USI's in Utah and Idaho is indicative of the future growth prospects of commercial and residential construction in the region.