US: Owens Corning has announced its conclusion of a deal to buy polyurethane (PU) foam insulation producer Natural Polymers. The companies say that Natural Polymers president and CEO Benjamin Brown will take on an innovation leadership role at Owens Corning following the completion of the transaction.

US: Switzerland-based cement manufacturer Holcim has agreed to buy SES Foam for an undisclosed sum. The company manufactures spray foam insulation and roofing products. It had forecast net sales of US$200m in 2022. The transaction follows recent acquisitions Holcim in the light building materials market such as Firestone Building Products and Malarkey.

Jamie Gentoso, Head Solutions & Products at Holcim said, “This is another exciting step in the expansion of Solutions & Products, advancing our ‘Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth’. SES has a proven track record of growth and innovation in thermal insulation with a focus on more sustainable solutions, making them highly complementary to our roofing and insulation business.”

SES Foam was founded in 2009 and is based at Spring in Texas. Its SucraSeal product was the first sucrose-based spray foam insulation to be certified by the US Department of Agriculture for its high bio-based content.

US: The National Insulation Association (NIA) has joined the US Department of Energy’s Better Climate Challenge initiative as an ally. Allies play a lead role in raising awareness of the initiative, which aims to reduce CO₂ emissions across US industrial plants and buildings.

Ireland: Kingspan says that it expects to record a profit of Euro415m in the first half of 2022, up by 26% year-on-year from Euro329m in the first half of 2021. The company noted that its global backlog of insulated panels orders fell by 2% year-on-year in volume on 31 May 2022, having previously been up by 19% year-on-year on 31 March 2022. It said that order volumes nonetheless remained above 2019 levels.