Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Poland: Petralana has completed the construction of a mineral wool plant in Bytom. The plant will employ almost 200 people and produce 41,000t/yr of mineral wool.

Russia: Paroc intends to expand its production in Russia by 1.5 times to 45,000t in 2015. So far in 2015, its capacity utilisation rate is 100%. In 2014, Paroc's Tver plant sold 29,000t of mineral wool.

Paroc is investing US$121m in a new thermal insulation production plant in Tver. The project will be implemented in three stages; 2011 - 2013, 2014 - 2016 and 2017 - 2020. The new plant will produce up to 50,000t/yr of mineral wool.

UAE: The Ministry of Environment and Water is set to issue a decree to regulate the production of mineral wool and fiberglass industries. The new regulations are intended to increase the environmental sustainability and performance of the industries. They will set out applications and pollution control techniques. Producers will also be required to prepare an environmental management plan specific to their operations.

US: Rockwool has started production at its Marshall County, Mississippi mineral wool plant. The US$164m plant, the Danish insulation producer's first in the US, is expected to be fully operational by mid-2015. The plant will employ 150 people and produce more than 100,000t/yr for the North American market.

"The new plant will enable us to increase our sales for insulation products in the USA. We have been experiencing double-figure growth rates in the North American market over recent years and there is still considerable potential for growth in the market, which is mainly dominated by glass fibre and plastic foam products," said Trent Ogilvie, President of Roxul, Rockwool's subsidiary in North America. Over the last year the company has experienced such an increase in demand that the it has been forced to import from Europe.

Russia: Knauf Insulation expects its mineral wool insulation factory in Tyumen Oblast, Russia to reach its design capacity of 45,000t/yr in late 2014. More than Euro64.3m was invested in the project. The plant sells its products in the Ural district, Siberia, the Far East and Kazakhstan.

UK: A Salford housing association has begun a pilot project to trial a new type of party cavity wall insulation. The project will see the new mineral wool insulation fitted to separating walls between terraced and semi-detached houses in City West Housing Trust's properties in Greater Manchester, UK.

The housing association, which owns and manages 14,600 homes in Salford, is undertaking the project with Knauf Insulation using the company's ECOSE Technology, which creates insulation using formaldehyde-free binder technology and naturally occurring and recycled raw materials.

If the pilot is successful, customers could save Euro73 - 109/yr on their energy bills. Additionally, household carbon emissions will be reduced by between 0.33 - 0.50t/yr per home. The performance of the insulation will be monitored by Leeds Metropolitan University, the Mineral Wool Insulation Manufacturers Association and Knauf Insulation.

"Through our commitment to the green agenda we are ensuring our properties can be as energy efficient as possible and offer value for money for our customers," said City West head of supply chain and sustainability Garry Vaughan.

Canada: Johns Manville (JM) has added commercial and residential mineral wool to its full spectrum of insulation products in Canada.

JM mineral wool insulation offers a variety of performance benefits in both commercial and residential construction. With a melting point in excess of 1093˚C, mineral wool can help delay fire spread, create quieter buildings and homes, increase privacy between rooms and reduce heating and cooling costs by keeping structures warm in winter and cool in summer.

"Mineral wool has long been a favourite product of Canadian building professionals, but there's no longer just one game in town," said Fred Stephan, senior vice president of Insulation Systems at Johns Manville. "With JM mineral wool, building occupants benefit from acoustically superior environments, moisture protection and increased fire performance, while contractors benefit from JM's full range of product offerings, providing more options and resources across all insulation categories."

Malaysia: PGF Insulation Sdn Bhd plans to build a second mineral wool plant next to its existing plant in Penang and start production in early 2016. PGF has awarded the first phase of the project to a local contractor and work is expected to commence in May 2014. This phase of the project, when completed, will have a capacity of 20,000MT/yr with a focus on batts and boards production.

PGF has started its plant expansion plan due to growing demand for its glasswool products in the Asia Pacific region. The five-acre site was acquired in 2008 for future expansion purposes. PGF's current facility has a production capacity of 20,000Mt/yr. The first phase project will add 20,000Mt/yr and it will be operational in 2016. A second phase will add a further 20,000Mt/yr bringing the total production capacity to 60,000Mt/yr. PGF intends to be become the largest mineral wool manufacturer in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region when the upgrades are completed.

This news article was updated on 3 April 2014

Saudi Arabia: Saudi International Insulation Manufacturing Company (SIIMCO), a joint venture equally owned by Alghanim Industries and Saint-Gobain, has signed an agreement with the Yanbu Royal Commission to lease a 65,000m² site at Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah, Saudi Arabia for 30 years. Construction of plant is expected to begin in August 2013 and it is planned to be operational by early 2014.

"Our joint venture investment at Yanbu will supply local and regional industrial and building areas with a reliable source of high quality insulation, which is both environmentally-friendly and will assist in improving the fire safety of buildings," said Omar Alghanim, chief executive of Alghanim Industries. The agreement follows a comprehensive review of the environmental impact and approval for plant layouts, building structure and utilities from the Yanbu local authorities.

SIIMCO has invested about Euro45m in the project. When completed it will have a production capacity of 60,000Mt/yr, building minderal wool, thermal and acoustical insulation materials. The plant is intended to serve markets in Saudi Arabia and other regional markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council region such as Egypt and Iraq.

Turkey: Austrian insulation producer Austrotherm has said that its second insulation plant in Turkey will go into operation at the beginning of April 2013. Austrotherm has invested Euro4m in the project.

The new plant is located in Turgutlu, near Izmir and will be focused on the production of grey thermally insulated curtail panels from expanded polystyrene and rigid foams. The new plant will employ 40 workers.

Austrotherm saw its sales rise by 8% to Euro245m in 2012. Austrotherm's foreign sales grew stronger than those on the domestic Austrian market in 2012, according to its CEO Peter Schmid.