Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

China: Javier Gimeno, head of Saint-Gobain’s business in Asia-Pacific, has blamed production overcapacity for the company’s decision to stop manufacturing glass wool. He said that overcapacity had forced prices down and lowered margins, according to the Wall Street Journal. He added that the company is targeting profits over 10% and that it wants its business in China to grow faster than the national economy. Subsequently, the group has focused on products such as mortars, plastics and car windows. Gimeno also raised the issue of environmental regulations being stricter for foreign firms in China, although this is changing.

UK: SIG’s revenue grew by 8.1% to Euro1.6bn in the first half of 2017 due to favourable currency exchange rates and sales in Mainland Europe. Sales in Mainland Europe rose by 42% in the period boosted by recovery in the construction markets particularly in France.

China: Luyang Energy-Saving Materials plans to spend US$11m towards upgrading its mineral wool insulation plant in the Yiyuan Economic Development Zone in Shandong. The upgrade will add 25,000t/yr production capacity to the plant, increasing its total output to 50,000t/yr, according to Reuters. Construction is scheduled to start in July 2017 with completion in June 2018.

Germany: Va-Q-Tec AG is hosting a research project entitled ‘THECore’ that will examine thermally efficient, cost-reduced nanostructured foams for vacuum insulation panels (VIP). The project is linked to the Society and Enterprise Panel of the Individual Fellowship of Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) of the European Union (EU). The main research topic of THECore is the development of new VIP products based on a new generation of core materials. Sumteq, the project’s second supporting company, will supply these.

Va-Q-Tec will carry out product tests and qualifications of the new materials. A starting meeting with both participant institutions was held on 22 June 2017, where researcher Flávia Almeida from Portugal introduced the main objectives of the project. She will lead the research for two years and will be supported by the MSCA.

MSCA are a set of major mobility research grants created by the EU and European Commission to support research in the European Research Area. It is currently financed through the Eighth Framework Program for Research and Technological Development (Horizon 2020) and belongs to the so-called first pillar ‘Excellent Science.’

UK: The British Rigid Urethane Foam Manufacturers’ Association (BRUFA) has warned against ‘misleading’ claims being made in relation to the Grenfell Tower fire ahead of a government investigation. In a statement the body for the rigid polyisocyanurate (PIR) and polyurethane (PUR) Insulation Industry in the UK said it would challenge and correct any misleading allegations about the incident and provide information to assist an ‘accurate’ analysis. It added that the PIR and PUR insulation industry is an established and responsible one with a usage of over 50 years in the construction sector.

“We have a growing concern that misleading claims, supported by selective data are gaining traction and being reported as facts. If this supposition takes hold before the enquiry has established the truth of the matter, there is a danger it will lead to the wrong conclusions and decisions, that will do nothing to improve the future safety of buildings, including high-rise tower blocks. It may also lead to behavioural changes that could be detrimental to the future welfare of the built environment,” said BRUFA.

The UK government has appointed Martin Moore-Bick, a former judge, to head the public inquiry into the fire. As well as investigating the incident, the inquiry is expected to recommend changes to national building regulations.