Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Australia/Germany: Australia-based Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) and Germany-based Covestro plan to start a long-term agreement for the supply of green hydrogen and its derivatives, including ammonia. According to the memorandum of understanding, FFI and Covestro will formalise an agreement under which FFI will supply Covestro with the equivalent of up to 100,000t/yr of hydrogen. The deal will enable Covestro to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, from using grey hydrogen, by up to 900,000t/yr of CO₂ per year. The deliveries are earmarked for three potential locations – in Asia, North America and Europe - and could commence by 2024.

Green hydrogen is hydrogen made using renewable energy sources. FFI’s ambition is to grow its green hydrogen production to 15Mt/yr of green hydrogen by 2030, accelerating to 50Mt/yr in the following decade.

Covestro uses hydrogen and its derivatives as feedstock in the production of polymers. It produces a wide range of products including those used for thermal insulation in construction.

Spain: Etex has signed a deal with Germany-based Xella Group for the acquisition of its subsidiary URSA. The Belgium-based group says that the move confirms its portfolio shift towards lightweight construction materials. URSA produces its expanded polystyrene (EPS), extruded polystyrene (XPS) and glass and mineral wool insulation across a total of 13 sites and has operations in 20 European countries.

Chief executive officer Bernard Delvaux said “The acquisition of URSA confirms the portfolio shift initiated a few years ago by Etex to become a global leader in lightweight and modular construction. This acquisition is a strategic fit for Etex combining a new growth platform with a strong focus on sustainability. I have been truly impressed by both the quality of the management at URSA and its sound business model. I look forward to welcoming our new teammates to Etex and embarking on a prosperous future together.”

Germany: CertainTeed plans to build a 312kW solar power plant at its Berlin insulation centre. Construction is set to begin in 2022. Along with a similar project in its US plastic operations in Wayne, New Jersey, US, the plant’s construction aligns with the aims of parent company Saint-Gobain’s newly announced Grow and Impact sustainable expansion strategy.

CertainTeed CEO Mark Rayfield said “The new solar projects at our sites in Berlin and Wayne will reduce our company’s energy costs at these locations and support the broader transition to renewable, zero-carbon sources of power.”

Norway: Bewi’s shareholders have voted in favour of the company’s acquisition of the remaining 50% of Jackon Holding in order to become sole owner. Bewi will hold an extraordinary general meeting following the completion of due diligence checks to authorise the issuance of Bewi shares as consideration for the deal to Jackon Holdings’ controlling shareholder Haas.

UAE: Pearl Polyurethane has newly appointed Oliver Bruns, Michael Friede and Wilhelm Lamberts to its board. Chemical Industry Digest News has reported that the new board members’ experience collectively spans various sectors and industries, bringing broad and deep expertise to the polyurethane (PUR) producer’s strategic guidance and oversight as it expands internationally and into new verticals.

Bruns has over 10 years’ PUR industry experience with Germany-based Bayer AG and Covestro, formerly known as Bayer MaterialScience. This included a role as managing director of Bayer’s Czech Republic-based PUR system house for Eastern Europe. Bruns currently also holds a full-time CEO position at Neveon, a leading global integrated foam group that supplies PUR flexible and composite foams for a wide range of applications.

Friede started his career at Bayer AG in 2001 and held various senior executive roles at Bayer MaterialScience and then Covestro, including global head of coatings, adhesives and specialities. He then moved to Netherlands-based AkzoNobel, where he worked as chief commercial officer (CCO) of performance coatings.

Lamberts’ career also spans multiple executive roles at Bayer AG and Covestro, most recently as the former’s strategy project manager and senior vice president, head of elastometers and the latter’s innovation project manager.

Germany: Cemex Zement has launched Insularis cement-free concretes, a product range suitable for use in building insulating components. The range includes lightweight concretes Insularis Supra and Insularis Infra. Due to its low bulk density, Insularis Infra currently requires special case-by-case or project-related approval for use in Germany. The company said that it produces Insularis concretes from a mix of recycled and natural raw materials. It added that Insularis is itself 100% recyclable.

UK: SIG’s group revenue fell by 37% year-on-year to Euro154m during March and April 2020 due to disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak. In its annual report for 2019 the insulation producer said that trading had returned to pre Covid-19 levels in most of its companies as it adapted social distancing measures. It also reported cash reserves of around Euro150m following the sale of its Air Handling division.

In 2019 the group‘s statutory revenue fell by 13% year-on-year to Euro2.4bn in 2019 from Euro2.7bn in 2018. It made an operating loss of Euro97m. This was blamed on loss of market share in the UK and Germany. In response the company’s board says it taken ‘decisive’ action including appointing a new leadership team and developing a new customer-centric strategy that reprioritises sales.

Germany: Declare has certified Knauf Insulation’s Supafil blowing wool insulation ‘Red List Free’. The declaration signifies that Supafil contains no Red-Listed chemicals designated as harmful to health by the International Living Future Institute. Knauf Insulation Blowing Wool business development & residential market manager Thomas Baguette said, “Our Declare label underlines the natural credentials of our blowing wool. Supafil is composed of 99% glass mineral wool and less than 1% of antidust and antistatic.”

Ireland: Kingspan Group’s sales fell by 3% year-on-year to Euro1.03bn in the first quarter of 2020. It said that the coronavirus-related lockdowns did not ‘significantly’ impact activity for most of the reporting period although the, “landscape changed markedly from the middle of March onward.” The UK and Germany reported improvements, the Americas did well and both Australasia and the Middle East saw rising orders. Insulation board sales were strongly impacted by falling prices. Looking forward the group said that its global sales fell by nearly 35% year-on-year as various construction markets were closed down.

Germany: Knauf Insulation has launched its ‘As Safe As Home’ marketing campaign to promote health and safety issues in relation to new working environments created by the coronavirus pandemic. Chief executive officer (CEO) Jean-Claude Carlin said, “Safety has always been our first priority but when the crisis hit our business, it inspired the best in us. We learnt to create places that are safer than ever. Safety had to be everywhere for everyone. At home. At work. 24/7. Having achieved so much, this approach can now never be compromised.”