Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Denmark: Rockwool’s net sales grew by 27% year-on-year to Euro3.91bn in 2022 from Euro3.09bn in 2021. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 6% to Euro638m from Euro602m. The group reported a strong start to 2022 with high demand for its stone wool insulation products. In the second half of the year it noted a decline in construction activity in key markets. However, it increased its prices leading to increased sales. By region the group said that sales grew in Europe and Asian markets, were flat in the US and declined in China.

Chief executive officer Jens Birgersson said, “Looking forward, we expect construction activity to continue slowing down in the coming period. We anticipate the energy efficiency agenda in both Europe and North America will accelerate renovation rates in the mid-term and create higher demand for our circular and non-combustible stone wool. We will continue to invest in more capacity to support our long-term growth”.

Together with the group’s chair Thomas Kähler, he also defended the company’s decision to continue the ownership of a subsidiary in Russia. “If we were to depart Russia, our factories and the intellectual property rights to our unique technology would most likely be nationalised or otherwise transferred to local players. Since the factories operate independently of our head office, they would continue to operate - just under different ownership. It therefore remains our view that retaining the business in Russia is the least bad option available to us. And of course, we will continue to comply with all international sanctions.”

Rockwool said that it had added production capacity for its Grodan agricultural stone wool range at its plant in Toronto, Canada and capacity for its Rockfon stone wool ceiling panel range at its Cigacice plant in Poland. In China it had opened a new plant at Qinyuan in December 2022 to replace its mineral wool unit at Guangzhou, which closed in September 2022. It also reported that plans to build a new stone wool plant at Soissons in France had been delayed due to a local legal challenge. Notable upgrades in 2022 included the start of a conversion project to electric melting technology from fossil fuels at the Flumroc plant in Switzerland, with a commissioning date scheduled for 2024. This project follows a similar one at the Moss plant in Norway that was completed in 2020.

UK: Insulation and cladding companies have blamed each other in a public inquiry investigating the Grenfell Tower Fire that took place in 2017 that led to 72 deaths. During closing statements to the inquiry the Press Association reports that the legal representation for Ireland-based Kingspan said, "In its phase one report the inquiry concluded that the cladding system on Grenfell Tower did not comply with the building regulations and that the PE ACM [polyethylene cladding] manufactured by Arconic was the principal reason for the rapid fire spread." The lawyer went on to summarise that Kingspan’s Kooltherm K15 phenolic insulation product was safe when used appropriately and not relevant to the nature and speed of the spread of the fire in this instance.

In a written statement though Arconic blamed the cause of the fire upon the failure by those involved in the refurbishment of the tower in assessing the fire performance of the building materials used and their configuration. It added, "A failure which was in significant part the result of the efforts made by the manufacturers of the insulation, Celotex and Kingspan, to hide or downplay the combustible and hence (under the prevailing regulatory regime) non-compliant nature of their product, an awareness of which would otherwise and in any event have led inexorably to the choice and configuration of the components being re-visited and amended."

The majority of the insulation purchased for use in a refurbishment of Grenfell Tower prior to the fire in June 2017 was Celotex’s RS5000 polyisocyanurate foam (PIR) insulation board. However, Kingspan confirmed in July 2017 that a small amount of its Kooltherm K15 product had also been used without its knowledge and that it had no involvement in the design or specification of the refurbishment.

France: Saint-Gobain says it has been preparing continuity plans for its gas-consuming insulation plants in Europe to ensure the flexibility of production to operate using less energy or that from alternative sources. Over half of its 25 insulation plants in Europe have an electricity-powered furnace and additional investments are being undertaken to use alternative power sources. The group noted that raw materials, freight and energy costs were growing, especially in Europe. It said that it had hedged around 80% of its natural gas and electricity purchasing needs for 2022 and around 60% for 2023.

The group’s sales grow by 14.5% on a like-for-like basis to Euro38.4bn in the first nine months of 2022 compared to Euro32.9bn in the same period in 2021. Strong sales growth was reported in all business lines although sales were driven in particular by the group’s High Performance Solutions business and its Asia-Pacific and North America regions.

By business segment the group said that businesses serving global construction customers in its High Performance Solutions division reported record sales. It added that they continued to benefit from strong trends in textile solutions for external thermal insulation systems (ETICS) due to demand for sustainable construction.

France: Saint-Gobain subsidiary Isover has begun construction of a prototype glass wool recycling plant in Chemillé-en-Anjou. Contractor Eiffage Génie Civil is executing the project, which is scheduled for commissioning in 2023.

Isover France and Switzerland technical director Jérôme Saulnier saud "The realisation of this revolutionary industrial prototype with fusion by immersed burners will make it possible to recycle glass wool in industrial quantities, transforming it into cullet. This cullet will be used in the manufacturing process of our insulating products and will also reduce our energy consumption, our carbon emissions and improve the life cycle of our products."

France: Ireland-based Kingspan has closed its acquisition of Ondura Group. The group consists of light roofing producer Onduline, membranes producer CB and waterproofing systems producer Alwitra. It operates plants in four European countries, as well as Brazil, Malaysia, Turkey and the US. Law firm Clifford Chance, a long-term partner of Kingspan, advised the insulation group through the deal.

On 27 September 2022, Kingspan acquired waterproofing membranes producer Derbigum in neighbouring Belgium. Derbigum has recycled 30,000t of bitumen in its operations to date.

France: Saint-Gobain’s sales were Euro25.5bn in the first half of 2022, up by 15% year-on-year from the same period in 2021. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 13% to Euro3.68bn. Sales rose by 15% in Northern Europe, by 14% in Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa, by 17% in the Americas and by 30% in Asia-Pacific. The producer ends the period with a net debt of Euro8.3bn, up by 9.2% from Euro7.6bn.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Benoit Bazin said, “Over the coming quarters, we are ready to adapt as needed to the consequences of rising interest rates and inflation along with the geopolitical and energy situation in Europe. Each country CEO has designed action plans, focusing especially on margins and cash flow. In this more uncertain environment, our target is to continue to outperform our markets and our deep transformation will enable us to demonstrate greater resilience. Over the past three years, our teams have successfully risen to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, supply chain disruptions and a strong inflationary environment. With portfolio rotation of almost Euro10bn in sales since the end of 2018, and with a local organisation keenly aware of immediate realities on the ground, Saint-Gobain has significantly increased its value creation. Against this backdrop, I am confident in the group’s 2022 outlook, which targets a further increase in operating income compared to 2021 at constant exchange rates.”

France: Groupe Berkem and Soprema have launched Pavatex, a wood fibre-based insulation panel. Groupe Berkem says that it developed a bio-based polyphenolic fungicide for use in the panel. The partners say that development of the product took 30 months.

Groupe Berkem chair and CEO Olivier Fahy said “The development of a unique solution that meets the needs of the market is the result of the collaboration between our two groups and the pooling of our technical expertise. For Groupe Berkem, this collaboration agreement is part of our continuous commitment to supporting the transition of chemical substances to eco-responsible and bio-based solutions.”

France: The Swiss multinational cement manufacturer Holcim has completed its acquisition of the French speciality building solutions producer PRB Group. The leading cement producer outside of China said that the acquisition will accelerate its transformation into a 30% solutions and products company in sales terms by 2025.

Europe, Middle East and Africa regional head Miljan Gutovic said “I warmly welcome all members of the PRB Group into the Holcim family. I’m excited about the outstanding expertise and passion they bring to our team in France. This is another exciting step in the expansion of solutions and products in the highly attractive repair and refurbishment market. We look forward to unleashing our next era of growth together to make cities greener with more energy-efficient and long-lasting buildings.”

Belgium: Knauf Insulation has officially opened a new Euro15m glass mineral wool recycling plant in Visé. It will recycle the glass mineral wool as part of its ‘Resulation’ service. The site will also recycle production off-cuts from Knauf Insulation’s Visé glass mineral wool production plant using a dedicated production line and furnace. The inauguration event was attended by Olivier de Wasseige, managing director of the Walloon Enterprise Network.

Dominique Bossan, member of Knauf Group’s management committee and head of Knauf Insulation Europe, Middle East and Asia, said, “The new facility is an important step towards achieving Knauf Insulation’s commitment to generate zero waste to landfill by 2025 as part of the company’s ‘For A Better World’ sustainability strategy.

Knauf Insulation says that around 85,000t/yr of glass mineral wool waste are generated in France, while in Belgium and the Netherlands the figure is around 30,000t/yr with 26,000t of that total coming from demolition.

France: Isover plans to spend Euro120m on increasing the production capacity of its existing production lines and building a new line by 2025. The subsidiary of Saint-Gobain says the move will add over 70,000t/yr to its glass wool production capacity. The move is in response to “very strong demand driven by energy renovation.”

Euro20m of the planned investment will be targeted at decarbonising production and developing the circular economy. Isover intends to install a treatment unit for deconstruction waste to be reincorporated into the production process as a substitute for virgin raw materials. It also wants to increase in the proportion of recycled glass used in the production process to 80% by 2025.

Isover operates three glass wool plants in France, at Chalonsur-Saône, Chemillé and Orange respectively.