Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Turkey: Austrian insulation producer Austrotherm has said that its second insulation plant in Turkey will go into operation at the beginning of April 2013. Austrotherm has invested Euro4m in the project.

The new plant is located in Turgutlu, near Izmir and will be focused on the production of grey thermally insulated curtail panels from expanded polystyrene and rigid foams. The new plant will employ 40 workers.

Austrotherm saw its sales rise by 8% to Euro245m in 2012. Austrotherm's foreign sales grew stronger than those on the domestic Austrian market in 2012, according to its CEO Peter Schmid.

US: Johns Manville (JM), a Berkshire Hathaway company and global building products manufacturer, has announced that it has hired H MacGregor (Greg) Clarke, aged 52, as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective from 4 April 2013. In this role Clarke will be responsible for JM's global finance and supply chain organisations.

"The position has been vacant since November (2012) when I accepted my current role," said Mary Rhinehart, JM president and CEO. "We took our time to ensure we found exactly the right person to fill this key position."

Clarke most recently was CFO of AeroGrow International, Inc. in Boulder, Colorado. Prior to that he was president and CEO of Ankmar, LLC, and earlier in his career held financial leadership and strategic planning roles with The Coleman Company, Inc., PepsiCo, Inc., and Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company. From 1997 to 2002 Clarke was Director of Finance for JM's Insulation Group, followed by vice president and general manager for JM's Building Insulation and Commercial & Industrial Insulation Divisions.

"We are excited to welcome Greg back to Johns Manville and to add his talents, experience and leadership to the company," said Rhinehart. "He will be critical to driving many of our key initiatives and business strategies for our future. I look forward to re-introducing him to our employees, customers, suppliers and other key stakeholders."

Germany: Suitors of the German insulation materials maker Armacell GmbH are poised to make second-round offers below the Euro500m price tag sought by its owner, Bahrain's Investcorp, according to Reuters.

The second round deadline was pushed back from 11 March 2013 as private equity firms Charterhouse, Pamplona Capital Management LLP and HgCapital were set to bid closer to Euro500m, according to bankers that spoke to the agency. The lower bids would reflect growth concerns regarding the target, whose sales amounted to Euro448m in 2011. There are even concerns that the deal, which is being handled by Barclays plc, could be cancelled completely if a reasonable valuation cannot be reached.

US/Japan: Huntsman Corporation has announced that it has acquired a 20% stake in Nippon Aqua, a spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation company based in Yokohama, Japan. The chemical manufacturer has entered into a ten-year supply agreement with the company. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Nippon Aqua is the SPF market leader in Japan, with business operations in over 30 locations across the country, and is a subsidiary of leading residential home builder Hinokiya Holdings. Huntsman supplies various advanced MDI-based polyurethanes systems to Nippon Aqua.

"Following the regrettable accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in 2011, there's a great focus on how the country will source its energy needs and a growing demand amongst consumers for more effective insulation. Nippon Aqua is well-positioned to satisfy this demand," said Huntsman's president of its polyurethanes division, Anthony P Hankins.

UK: Superglass Holdings PLC (SPGH.LN), an independent UK manufacturer of glass wool and mineral fibre insulation solutions, has said that current trading conditions continue to be extremely challenging and it plans to explore options to strengthen the company's balance sheet, including a further equity issue.

Superglass said that the company continues to operate within the terms of its bank facilities and its bankers continue to be supportive. However, debt amortisation payments are due to resume in November 2013 and Superglass is scheduled to repay Euro9.5m of debt over the three years to November 2016. It warned that, as long as market conditions remain as they are now, these debt service obligations will become unsustainable.

Superglass said that the delays in the recent transition from CERT standards to the new Green Deal framework had caused a major gap in activity within the retrofit market for both loft and cavity insulation. This, combined with abnormally low levels of housebuilding activity in the UK by historical standards, has caused a surplus of UK insulation capacity and highly competitive market conditions. This, Superglass said that this was detrimentally impacting the company's operating profit and cashflow.