Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

World: US-based Huntsman has announced a natural gas surcharge of Euro125/t on its sales of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) in Europe, India and the Middle East and Africa (MEAF), in response to an ‘unprecedented’ rise in natural gas prices in the region. The measure entered effect on 1 October 2021. The company says that this has adversely affected the energy inputs, intermediates and multiple feedstock costs incurred in its MDI production.
The new surcharge will operate in conjunction with any previously announced MDI price increases.

Huntsman's Polyurethanes president Tony Hankins said "Huntsman is already working with its customers to manage the impact of the surcharge, which was necessary to respond to the unexpected and unprecedented increase in our production costs."

Middle East: Honeywell has joined hands with Bayer Pearl to introduce a new spray foam system in the Middle East region.

A joint venture between Bayer MaterialScience AG and Pearl Insulation Materials Industries, the company said that it will deploy the solstice liquid blowing agent (LBA) technology from Honeywell in its new polyurethane spray foam insulation to offer homeowners in the region excellent thermal insulation performance and reduced energy consumption with lower global-warming impact.

Honeywell and Bayer Pearl had developed the new polyurethane spray foam system using the new blowing agent to be the most economical and competitive when assessed by performance and overall cost effectiveness.

"This first application of a PU spray foam system with a fourth-generation blowing agent in a construction project in the UAE underlines Bayer Pearl's commitment to sustainability. We evaluated several options to meet the sustainability requirement of GWP less than 5 in the region and found foam with Solstice LBA to be the best solution," said Jose-Antonio Diaz-Lopez, the Head of Application Development at Bayer Pearl.

The Bayer Pearl spray foam insulation system has already been used in residential applications, with the system applied to the roofs of residential villas in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE, by Water Seal. "As one of the leading spray insulation companies in UAE, we have experience using all types of foam blowing agents for spray foam," said Muhammad Asghar, Managing Director for Water Seal. "We have found Bayer Pearl's product with Solstice LBA to be the best available polyurethane spray foam solution in meeting sustainability requirements without compromising on insulating properties."