Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Germany: Jean-Claude Carlin has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Knauf Insulation with effect from 1 February 2017. Carlin is a member of the Knauf Group leadership team having led the Knauf Industries business as Group CEO since 2009. He succeeds Thies Knauf.

Carlin joined Knauf Industries in 2008 after almost 20 years working for Timken, a manufacturer of bearings and mechanical power transmission products. At Timken he held various operations and management positions in Europe, India and the US. Carlin is a French national and has degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Economics. He will be based in Knauf Insulation’s new global headquarters in Visé, Belgium.

Knauf Insulation has also established an Executive Committee that will define and implement the group’s strategy and manage of its operations worldwide. Carlin will be joined on the Executive Committee by David Ducarme, appointed as Group Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Deputy CEO, and Jens Nilsson, Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Germany: Steico, a manufacturer of thermal insulation made from wood, has reported that its sales rose by 10.6% year-on-year to Euro209m in 2016 from Euro189m in 2015. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 34.4% to Euro33.2m from Euro24.7m. The company said that ‘very pleasing growth’ was noted for its wood-fibre insulation materials in 2016 but it didn’t specific any volumes. It did mention ‘continued price pressure’ in the period as well as increased exports.

Germany: Evonik Industries has completed its acquisition of the specialty additives business, Performance Materials Division, of the US company Air Products for Euro3.5bn. All relevant competition authorities have approved the transaction and the integration of the acquired business is underway. The transaction financing was completed successfully in September 2016. It has been paid for by the company’s own funds to the amount of Euro1.6bn with the excess Euro1.9bn covered by bonds.

"The successful completion of the acquisition paves the way for swiftly merging the activities of Evonik and the acquired units of the Air Products Performance Materials business," said Klaus Engel, Chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries AG. "It puts Evonik in an excellent position for further profitable growth in the attractive specialty additives market."

Germany: Va-Q-Tec is increasing its equity stake in Sumteq, a technology company that develops innovative polymer nanofoams with insulation properties, to expand its portfolio of high-performance products. Va-Q-Tec initially acquired an equity stake in Sumteq in autumn 2015. As technological and sales milestones have been achieved ahead of time, Va-Q-Tec is now supporting Sumteq with further funds for its further development.

Both companies are also linked by a strategic partnership. Joint objectives include the pilot testing and market launch of Sumteq products as a further high-performance insulation material, as well as knowledge exchange on the development and production of nanoporous and mesoporous foams. The strategic partnership offers both companies the possibility to contribute their respective expertise and consequently create added value for their customers.

"As an innovative start-up, Sumteq with its new type of nanofoam possesses a highly interesting and groundbreaking product for many markets. We'll be happy to contribute our expertise to assist its market launch. The Sumteq technology has the potential to fundamentally revolutionise nanocell foam production. We're convinced Sumteq’s nanofoams provide an excellent supplement to our vacuum insulation panels. They fit excellently into our long-term technology roadmap," said Joachim Kuhn, co-founder and CEO of Va-Q-Tec.

Germany: Firestone Building Products Company says that it will build an insulation plant in Heinsberg. The site will establish a European insulation manufacturing and distribution presence for the subsidiary of tyre and rubber manufacturer Bridgestone. The plant is expected to be fully operational in 2018.

“The Heinsberg location will be the second European manufacturing facility for the company. We acquired the Giscosa EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) plant in Terrassa, Spain in 2013,” said Troy Geuther, managing director of international operations and vice president, Firestone Building Products. The new facility will expand production and distribution of polyiso foam, the company’s polyiso foam insulation used in commercial construction.

Germany: BASF has developed a new technology for welding insulation boards. The contactless, thermal welding process makes it possible to combine a variety of insulation materials. For example, Styrodur, an extruded rigid polystyrene foam from BASF, can be combined with polyurethane, inorganic insulation materials, or the melamine resin foam Basotect to form completely new insulation material solutions.

BASF ‘s Styrodur portfolio includes new, thick boards made using this process in the highly compression-proof varieties Styrodur 4000 CS and 5000 CS. The boards cover the thickness range from 60mm to 240mm with a consistently good insulation value (lambda = 0.035W/mK).

Germany: Evonik Industries is acquiring the Performance Materials Division of Air Products and Chemicals for US$3.8bn. The products it is acquiring from Air Products include ingredients for insulation foams, sun lotion and paint as well as additives to harden aircraft and marine coatings. The transaction is intended to be completed by the end of 2016 subject to approval from relevant competition authorities.

“Evonik is already one of the leading producers of specialty & coating additives. Air Products’ Specialty & Coating Additives business perfectly complements this fast-growing segment. With this acquisition we are expanding our portfolio with precisely the right markets, products and innovations and continuing to invest in our growth and profitability,” said Klaus Engel, chief executive officer of Evonik Industries.

Air Products’ specialty and coating additives business will be integrated into the Nutrition & Care and Resource Efficiency segments of Evonik. The acquisition will also give Evonik a greater presence in North America, diversifying its markets outside of Europe. It also expects to generate savings of up to US$80m/year from the deal by 2020.

Germany/Japan: Covestro and Nanodax have signed an agreement on the development of new polycarbonate composites reinforced with mineral wool. Nanodax has developed a special process for the manufacture of these products that uses mineral wool as reinforcing filler for plastics. It has a small diameter and is more flexible than glass fibres.

“Our development cooperation is targeting diverse application areas for polycarbonates reinforced with mineral wool, and will open up new prospects for both companies. In particular, we are aiming at advantages in surface appearance and material processing. Cost reductions for customers are expected through an optimised injection moulding manufacturing process,” said Michael Schmidt, Head of Business Development for Polycarbonates Asia Pacific at Covestro.

The joint development work will be performed primarily at Covestro’s Polymer Research & Development Center (PRDC) in Shanghai, China.

Covestro, formerly Bayer MaterialScience, is a global supplier of polycarbonates and has expertise in their processing and application. Nanodax is a venture company with a portfolio including heating-style glass wool charging system technology, a special additive on the nano level, incombustible, ultra lightweight glass wool board with very good thermal insulation properties, and sound isolation.

UK/Germany: UK-based private equity firm Charterhouse Capital Partners LLP has agreed to divest Armacell International SA in a deal that values the German insulation materials firm at Euro960m, according to Reuters. Charterhouse, which paid Euro520m for Armacell in 2013, will sell it to private equity funds managed by US Blackstone Group LP. The transaction is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2016. Armacell reported net sales of Euro452m in 2014.

Germany: Johns Manville (JM), a Berkshire Hathaway company, has celebrated the inauguration of a state-of-the-art polyester spunbond production line at its plant in Berlin, Germany.

The new Euro32m line is part of a strategic plan to support the growing demand for high-end polyester filtration media. The new line utilises newly-developed proprietary spinning technology and will increase the Berlin plant's spunbond lightweight capacity by more than 40%.

"The new capacity at our Berlin plant will benefit Johns Manville's global customer base," said Mary Rhinehart, president and CEO. "Customers will have even greater access to our high-quality filtration products and to a new generation of spunbond filter media for cabin air, air pollution control and liquid filtration applications. This new lines also puts Johns Manville in a prime position to handle continued growth and customer demand in the many global markets we serve."

The Berlin site was founded in 1919 as 'Spinnstofffabrik Zehlendorf AG.' In 1960, Hoechst acquired the plant and in 1967 changed the production from Perlon (artificial silk) to spunbond and filaments polyester. In 1999, JM acquired the Berlin plant from Hoechst Trevira. Plant employees produce and market Evalith™ polyester spunbond nonwovens mainly for the filtration, roofing and geotextile industry.