Singapore: Kingspan has officially opened an office in Singapore. Irish Deputy Prime Minster and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Frances Fitzgerald, opened the site while leading a five-day trade and investment mission to Southeast Asia.

“Future growth will come from markets such as Asia, Latin America and maybe Africa at a later stage,” said Manuel Furer, Kingspan’s Regional Managing Director for Australasia and South East Asia.

Kingspan has listed its QuadCore insulation panels with the Singaporean authorities. The company also hopes to open an innovation centre in the region at some point.

Brazil: Kingspan has acquired a 51% stake of Isoeste Construtivos Isotérmicos (Isoeste). Isoeste, an insulated panel manufacturer, operates from four production sites with approximately 630 employees. No amount for the transaction has been disclosed.

"We are delighted to create this partnership with the founders of Isoeste, the number one player in Brazil's insulated panels market. Together with our recent investments in Colombia and Mexico, this acquisition firmly places Kingspan in a market leading position across Latin America, with a strong platform for further expansion in the region," said Gene Murtagh, Kingspan’s chief executive officer (CEO).

UK: Knauf Insulation has appointed Lisa Richardson as a new product manager to lead the development of its glass mineral wool range. She will be responsible for working with customers to grow Knauf Insulation’s glass product range, which includes Supafil, its blowing glass mineral wool, OmniFit, its multi-application product, and its DriTherm cavity slabs.

Richardson joins the insulation producer from ladder manufacturer Werner. Prior to that, she worked with a number of product categories, including hand tools, personal protective equipment, security and plumbing fittings.

US: Kingspan Insulation has inaugurated the expansion of its Winchester plant in Virginia. An investment of US$25m was used to build an extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation panel production line. The new line will double the plant’s production capacity by manufacturing GreenGuard XPS panels. The company has also announced spending US$1.1m on buying an additional 7.3 acres of land adjacent to the plant’s location.