Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

South Korea: FM Global has approved LG Hausys’ phenolic foam as fire-protective by global standards. The US-based mutual insurance company granted Factory Mutual Approval on criteria testing fire-resistance for ceiling boards and wall panels for the insulation product, according to the Korea Herald newspaper. LG Hausys started producing phenolic foam insulation board in 2013. In May 2018 it opened a second production line at its Cheongju plant in North Chungcheong Province. A third production line is scheduled to be completed by early 2020.

South Korea: LG Hausys plans to increase sales of its phenolic foam (PF) insulation six-fold by 2018, which it produces from its plant in North Chungcheong Province.

"We will see a change in the construction market in Korea," said Kim Myoung-deuk, head of decorative material department. "Many people prefer remodelling their houses and eco-friendly materials will become more popular." LG Hausys's PF insulation has a thermal conductivity of 0.018W/mK, which is about twice as efficient as polystyrene insulator at 0.034W/mK.

LG Hausys began producing PF insulation in October 2013. It aims to post US$12.6m in sales in 2015, up fromUS$7.21m in 2014. Sales are expected to top US$45m by 2018. It is a challenging goal, considering the stagnating construction industry in the country.

"Until now, around 80% of the insulation market has mostly been polystyrene or polyurethane, but a move to materials with higher insulation performance and better fireproofing has been forecast," said the vice president of LG Hausys. "We will be able to achieve this challenging goal." Researchers have estimated that the market share of the high-performance insulator in the global insulation market will increase from 10% in 2015 to >30% by 2018.

LG Hausys plans to focus its business capacity on developing insulation products for fire doors and sandwich panels and expanding to China. The Chinese government is preparing to enforce an energy-saving policy that tightens the insulation level in buildings, especially in the north. Because of this, it is estimated that the Chinese high-performance insulation market will grow more than 50%/yr. "We expect the high-performance insulator market to grow continuously, on policies for fire safety and energy saving and because of growing consumer interest in reducing the cost of heating and cooling," said Myoung-deuk.