Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

France: Knauf Insulation France has appointed Yann Ditsch as its managing director. He holds experience in the French construction market having worked as Country Sales Director for Knauf in France since 2011. Prior to this he worked for Saint-Gobain, Rockwool France and US Gypsum. Ditsch, aged 50 years, holds a masters degree in marketing and communication from the ESCP Europe (École supérieure de commerce de Paris).

Germany: Armacell has recorded earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the first half of 2019 of Euro63.4m, up by 29.2% year-on-year from Euro50.6m in the six months to 30 June 2018.

Armacell recorded half-year sales of Euro322m, up by 6.3% from Euro303m. CEO Patrick Mathieu notied the strong performance of both advanced insulation and engineered foams. The first half of 2019 was notable for an increase in Armacell’s Chinese polyethylene terephthalate (PET) production capacity and a commercial cooperation agreement in April with Thermaflex in Russia.

Germany: Wacker Group has started selling a variety of pyrogenic silica products from its HDK line on the CheMondis and Pinpools business-to-business (B2B) market websites that markets chemical raw materials and specialty products. The German chemicals company is trading venues and, over the long term, acquire new customers and open up additional marketing channels for its product portfolio. Pyrogenic silica has a wide variety of applications, including usage as a filler for silicones in thermal insulation.

CheMondis, a startup founded by the Lanxess specialty chemicals company, and Pinpools, introduced in 2016, are European B2B marketplaces for chemicals. CheMondis is now used by 650 companies to sell more than 7500 products. Pinpools currently hosts 500 active buyers and vendors. The marketplace serves as a trading platform for more than 5000 products with a focus on paint and coatings, construction and the food and animal feed industry.

China/Germany: German companies Evonik and ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions have granted a licence to Zibo Qixiang Tengda Chemical for the use of its hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide (HPPO) technology in China. Qixiang Tengda Chemical will build a propylene oxide plant in Shandong province and Evonik has licensed the production of hydrogen peroxide for the exclusive supply of the plant. Evonik and ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions have also entered into a long-term agreement for the supply of the respective HPPO catalyst. Propylene oxide is used mainly for the production of polyurethane foams, including those used in insulation for buildings.

“We’re proud of having gained Qixiang as a new strategic partner. With environmental awareness on the rise in China, HPPO is the technology of choice for sustainable production of propylene oxide because it produces no major by-products apart from water,” said Claus Rettig, the chairman of the board of Evonik’s Resource Efficiency division.

Planning work for the new Qixiang Tengda plant is scheduled to start in mid-August 2019 with commissioning expected for the first half of 2022. Qixiang Tengda, a chemical manufacturer, is part of Cedar Holdings Group.

Germany: Covestro has signed an agreement with HIG Capital, a private equity company, for the sale of its European Systems Houses business. HIG Capital aims to position the business towards mid-sized customers. Covestro will retain its polyurethane markets in Asia where it will continue to serve its customers. The sale is part of Covestro’s ongoing portfolio optimization process that includes the sale of Covestro’s North American spray polyurethane foam systems home business in 2017.

The systems houses businesses are part of the Covestro’s Polyurethanes segment and sell tailor-made polyurethanes systems. The European Systems Houses business comprises facilities in the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Germany and further businesses in Italy. Operations will continue at the current facilities while Covestro will continue to have strong ties with the systems houses business as a key polyurethanes supplier.

The closing of the transaction is expected for the second half of 2019 after the required antitrust clearance. No value for the sale has been disclosed.

US: Germany’s BASF plans to launch the second phase of its methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) unit at its Verbund plant in Geismar, Louisiana. The first phase of the upgrade was set to double the company’s MDI production capacity to nearly 0.6Mt/yr from 0.3Mt/yr. The new US$87m investment will continue this process. Construction is expected to start in late 2019 with completion scheduled for 2021.

“With the development of the American market, BASF needs this investment to support the growth of our existing customers,” said BASF Senior Vice President Stefan Doerr. “The Geismar site is ideally suited for this investment thanks to the existing infrastructure, competitive raw materials and favourable business support from state and local governments. This investment also demonstrates our strong commitment to our employees, our community and our presence in Louisiana.”

China/Germany/US: The Mannheim Court in Germany has found that Chinese companies Guangdong Alison Hi-Tech and Nano Tech infringed one of Aspen Aerogels’ European patents by selling infringing aerogel insulation products. As part of the judgments, the Mannheim Court issued injunctions prohibiting the offer, distribution, use or import of infringing products in Germany and held Nano and Alison liable to Aspen Aerogels for damages, court costs and some of Aspen's legal fees and expenses. The Mannheim Court's decision is subject to an appeal to the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe. In a related lawsuit, the Mannheim Court had previously issued a series of judgments against Hiltex Techniche Weefsels, a Dutch reseller of the infringing Chinese aerogels.

In addition, the German Federal Patent Court in Munich found the Aspen patent to be valid as granted in a patent nullity action initiated by Nano. The Munich Court's decision follows other unsuccessful challenges to the validity of Aspen's patents by Nano and Alison in the US and China.

"Our core strategy is to invest in the research, development, commercialisation and protection of our aerogel technology platform worldwide. These European patent wins, along with our 2018 victory at the US International Trade Commission, reinforce the scope and strength of Aspen's patent portfolio," said Don Young, President and chief executive officer (CEO) of Aspen Aerogels.

Germany: Va-Q-Tec’s revenue grew by 8% year-on-year to Euro50.7m in 2018 from Euro46.9m in 2017. Sales from its Products business, including vacuum insulation panels (VIP) and phase change materials (PCM), increased by 12% to Euro20.1m from Euro18m. However, its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 58% to Euro3m from Euro7.2m. It blamed the fall in earnings on a rise in sales from its lower-margin Products business and investment costs in the company generally.

“Even though business trends in 2018 fell short of our expectations, the outlook at the end of the year brightened considerably. We have completed all of our major growth investments, we have achieved important progress with projects for major customers,” said Stefan Döhmen, the chief financial officer (CFO) of Va-Q-Tec.

Italy: Gamma Meccanica has acquired mineral wool pipe section production technology from Germany’s MPN Maschinenbau. As part of the purchase, Mark Desomer has joined the Italian mineral wool production line manufacturer. No value for the transaction has been disclosed.

“We are delighted to cooperate as one team in the future. It is an exciting new chapter to continue our journey to develop state of the art mineral wool pipe section production units based on our mutual know-how,” said Andrea Magnani Managing Director at Gamma Meccanica .

Cambodia: Germany’s BASF has started its own local subsidiary to sell its own products directly. It had been working through local distribution partners since 2014, according to the Phnom Penh Post newspaper. The company will market its performance materials products including polyurethane insulation. Other products it will bring to market include monomers and intermediates, nutrition and health and agricultural offerings.