Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US/Canada: Armacell International SA, which produces flexible insulation foams for the equipment insulation market, has completed the acquisition of Industrial Thermo Polymers Limited (ITP), a producer of extruded polyethylene (EPS) foam products in North America.

"We are pleased and excited to welcome the employees of ITP into the Armacell family," said Thomas Himmel, vice president of the Americas and engineered foams for Armacell. "The acquisition of ITP supports our strategy to expand our manufacturing capability of polyethylene foam products. The Brampton facility will be the base for our future investment into the manufacture of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foam in North America."

ITP was founded in 1980 and maintains headquarters in Toronto, Canada. Under the brand name Tundra, it manufactures self-sealing pipe insulation, insulating foam filler and water toys. In 2014, ITP generated US$23.5m in revenue.

Hungary/Ukraine: Hungarian building materials manufacturer Masterplast has seen its earnings fall in 2014 after the worsening Ukraine crisis forced it to write off investment plans for a new expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation plant in the country.

Masterplast has reported that its annual net income dropped by 38% year-on-year to Euro749,000 in 2014. Without the enforced Ukraine write-off, the company had expected its post-tax profit to reach Euro1.6m. Masterplast, which has a growing string of plants in eastern Europe, has reported that its 2014 revenue was flat at Euro81.6m, while its annual operating profit fell by 1% year-on-year to Euro2.7m.

Masterplast had planned to invest Euro1.4m to set up a new EPS insulation plant at Lviv in the far west of Ukraine, where it had bought and converted existing industrial premises. It expected to become Ukraine's third-largest player in the thermal insulation segment within three years. However, early in 2014 Masterplast suspended its national investment and project for the EPS and adhesives plant. With the situation deteriorating further since then, it has decided not to restart its expansion scheme until Ukraine's political and economic position has stabilised.

Germany: Germany's BASF has switched its entire polystyrene-based insulation product portfolio for the European market to the new polymeric flame retardant (PolyFR). The change comes nine months ahead of the deadline laid out in the REACH regulation, which forbids the use of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) as a flame retardant as of 21 August 2015. This means BASF's 'Styropor' and 'Neopor' Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) and its 'Styrodur' extruded polystyrene (XPS) are only available with PolyFR from now on.

"By switching to PolyFR we can guarantee the supply of eco-efficient thermal insulation products for sustainable building projects in the future," said Giorgio Greening of the group's Styrenic Foams business unit. Using PolyFR allows producers to manufacture insulation materials that meet Class E under European standards.

To meet rising global demand for PolyFR, which has a better environmental profile than HBCD, a number of producers have set up new production plants, including the recent announcement by Albemarle and Israel Chemicals (ICL) to set up a PolyFR joint venture.

Germany: Austrian heat insulation specialist Austrotherm GmbH has launched its first production plant in Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt. The new 114,000m² plant, which produces its characteristic pink extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam insulation board, was built in 10 months with an investment of Euro40m. The plant specialises in the production of XPS substrate specifically for high-pressure loads and high insulation thickness board. Located midway between Berlin and Hamburg, the site is well placed to supply growing markets in Germany and abroad.

“With the new plant, we are much closer to the market and, by eliminating the long transport routes, it will be faster and more flexible for the customer,” said Austrotherm’s sales and internationalisation executive director Gerald Prinzhorn. “It also allows us to export to northern Europe, Poland and the Benelux countries.” The site location is also set to benefit soon from the construction of the A14 motorway at Wittenberg.

Austrotherm, which also manufactures expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation, operates other XPS production units in Austria, Serbia and Romania. In its 2013 financial year annual sales grew by 2% to Euro250m. 

“The fact that we were able to increase sales last year is due to our international activities, such as the new EPS insulating plant in Izmir, Turkey,” said CEO Peter Schmid. He predicted a further sales rise in 2014 with further exports from the Wittenberg plant.

The company has also invested Euro4m to establish its second insulation material plant in Turgutlu, Turkey.