Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Australia/New Zealand/US: Ireland-based James Hardie has announced the planned closure of three of its fibre cement board plants. The Cooroy, Queensland plant in Australia, Summerville, South Carolina plant in the US and Penrose, Auckland plant in New Zealand will close permanently in mid-2020, resulting in a total of 375 job cuts. The NZ Herald newspaper has reported that the decision to shut the plants came about due to the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak on the global economic situation. James Hardie will now supply the New Zealand market from its Carole Park, Queensland and Rosehill, New South Wales plants. James Hardie also closed its Siglingen, Baden-Württemberg plant in Germany on a temporary basis, ‘in order to better match supply and demand in the European market.’

James Hardie revised its 2020 profit forecast to US$355m, down by 4.1% from US$370m.

US: Huntsman’s first quarter net income was US$708m in 2020, up by 440% year-on-year from US$131m in 2019. It made sales worth US$1.59bn over the period, down by 4.6% year-on-year from US$1.67bn in the corresponding period of 2019. Polyurethane (PU) insulation sales decreased slightly due to ‘decreased demand across most major markets, partially offset by modest growth in polyisocyanurate (PIR) insulation sales volumes.

Huntsman chair, president and CEO Peter Huntsman said, “We have been well-prepared for this global economic crisis. Our balance sheet is stronger than ever before, with significant cash and robust liquidity. Having learned from prior crises, we pre-emptively reduced unnecessary inventories and are reducing capital spending this year by 30%, or approximately $90m, by delaying discretionary spending.”