Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Denmark/Russia: The Association of Ukrainians in Denmark has launched a protest outside Rockwool's headquarters in Hedehusene to demonstrate against the company's continuation of activities in Russia via its local subsidiary. Local press has reported that Rockwool allegedly told the Association of Ukrainians in Denmark that divesting the Russian business would allow its profits and future cash flows to remain in Russia.

In October 2022, Rockwool clarified that it remains out of contact with its Russian business and views their relationship as a mere ownership of shares.

Denmark: Sweden-based Indutrade has concluded an agreement to acquire foam producer Bramming Plast-Industri. The parties expect to close the transaction later in 2022.

Bramming Plast-Industri's products include Inotan polyurethane (PU) and polyisocyanurate (PIR) foams and Setex recycled PU granular foam.

UK: Denmark-based Rockwool has launched its NyRock stone wool technology in the UK. The insulation producer says that the new product offers the “lowest lambda stone wool insulation available in the UK.” It is manufactured using a new patented production process and offers a thermal conductivity as low as 0.032W/mK. One of its key features is that it can deliver better insulation with comparatively thinner constructions compared to similar products. It also offers the usual benefits of stone wool insulation including durability, recyclability, acoustic properties and fire resistance. NyRock technology will be rolled out across a range of Rockwool insulation products during 2022.

Denmark: Rockwool recorded consolidated sales of Euro924m in the first quarter of 2022, up by 38% year-on-year from first-quarter 2021 levels. The group’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 12% year-on-year to Euro155m.

CEO Jens Birgersson “High demand and sales price increases drove double-digit revenue growth across almost all business units. While not materially affecting sales performance at this point, the terrible war in Ukraine and the challenging geopolitical situation are contributing to an already stressed global economy. Even with the price increases, the soaring energy, material, and logistics costs diluted margins in the first quarter. This will necessitate further price increases across the businesses.” Birgersson added “We expect to restore margins in the coming quarters.”

In its Outlook 2022, Rockwool predicted full-year net sales growth of 20 – 25% in local currencies and Euro425m-worth of group investments during the year, excluding acquisitions. It says that its business in Russia continues operating on a stand-alone basis, in order to avoid nationalisation and loss of its intellectual property.

Russia: Denmark-based Rockwool has cancelled plans for a Euro200m expansion to its Vyborg stone wool insulation plant in Russia. In a statement, the company said that it would continue its operations in the country, while also respecting international sanctions. Rockwool employs 1200 people in Russia, 10% of its total employees.

In defending its decision to maintain ordinary operations, the producer said “For Rockwool, there is no contradiction in standing side by side with the Ukrainian people and at the same time standing side by side with our Russian colleagues.” It added that it has donated to the Danish Red Cross to support Ukrainian victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Denmark: Tentoma has launched its new XL Power insulation panel packing machine. The supplier says that machine can pack up to 19m-long panels. At shorter lengths, it can stretch film for more panels per packaging cycle, increasing the packaging speed for the products by up to 25%. Tentoma built and sold its first XL Power packiaging machine to replace an orbital wrapper.

France/Denmark: Ireland-based Kingspan has signed deals for two diversifying acquisitions. On 18 February 2022, it agreed to buy France-based roofing and building waterproofing company Ondura from France-based Naxicap Partners for Euro550m. Meanwhile, in Denmark, the group has also agreed to acquire wood-based acoustic board producer Troldtekt. Troldtekt produces its boards from ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and shredded Norway spruce wood.

Speaking of the latter deal, Kingspan Insulation managing director Alan Lawlor said "I am delighted to welcome Troldtekt to the Kingspan family. As the global leader in high-performance insulation and building envelope solutions, we have the capacity to help them expand beyond their core markets, whilst bringing acoustic and decorative boards and natural insulation materials into our portfolio. Troldtekt has been able to continuously innovate and it sets the bar impressively high in the field of the circular economy.” He concluded "We will invest significantly in the company's production facilities to set them up for geographic growth."

Denmark: Rockwool says that high construction and renovation activity in the residential sector mainly drove its insulation sales in 2021. Insulation business sales grew by 20% year-on-year to Euro2.29bn in 2021 from Euro1.91bn. Its earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) rose by 17% to Euro275m from Euro236m. Strong growth was reported in Europe, solid sales in North America but some parts of China and elsewhere in Asia were negatively affected by coronavirus-related closures of some markets. The producer commented that its insulation sales increased ‘significantly’ in 2021 even compared to 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic started. However, it warned that “sales prices and productivity gains did not fully offset the accelerating inflation on production materials, energy and logistic costs.”

“The surprising speed of the 2021 economic rebound also brought challenges, including inventory and material shortages in some markets as well as logistics challenges that required creative solutions. Special thanks go to our customers for their patience and especially our people working in the factories and across the commercial, technical, procurement, and support teams, who worked together to reduce customer delays,” said chair Thomas Kähler and chief executive officer Jens Birgersson in a statement. Overall, group net sales grew by 19% to Euro3.09bn from Euro2.60bn. EBITDA increased by 15% to Euro602m from Euro522m.

Denmark: Rockwool’s nine-month sales rose by 18% year-on-year in 2021 to Euro2.25bn. Its earnings before interest, depreciation, taxation and amortisation (EBITDA) were Euro456m over the same period. The company said that strong demand for non-combustible insulation and our other stone wool products resulted in double-digit growth in all of its business areas in the third quarter of 2021.

Chief executive officer Jens Birgersson “With construction activity booming in many markets, we achieved double-digit sales growth in all business areas and good profitability despite soaring energy and input costs, a tight labour market and material shortages. We are working hard to meet customer demand and overall managing supply chain and logistics challenges well.” He added “Nevertheless, the high cost increases we are seeing on energy, production material and logistics are negatively affecting margins, necessitating additional and more rapid price increases, which are likely to continue in the coming months.”

Denmark: Rockwool has won the Long Term Value Creation prize at construction company EY and the Danish Chamber of Commerce’s Sustainability Awards 2021. The judges chose Rockwool for its clear ambitions for operating as a responsible businesse that positively impacts the sustainable transition, with demonstrated progress towards fulfilling those ambitions.

CEO Jens Birgersson said “Sustainability is firmly integrated into our overall business strategy. We pursue a fact-based, auditable approach to document progress in maximising our products’ positive impact while minimising the negative impact of our operations. Sustained long-term value creation is precisely what we seek to achieve.”