Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Kazakhstan: TechnoNICOL has inaugurated its new US$20m, Almaty extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation plant in the Kairat Industrial Zone. Once fully operational, the plant will have a capacity of 400,000m³/yr, AK&M News has reported. Exports to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will follow the launch of the plant’s products on the Kazakh market later in 2024.

US: Kingspan Insulated Panels North America is building a new K-Roc mineral wool insulation plant in Mattoon, Illinois. The producer expects the plant to commence operations in early 2025. It will be equipped with a solar power plant and rainwater harvesting system, recycling system and electric vehicle charging stations. When operational, it will employ 50 people. Kingspan’s K-Roc mineral wool insulation offers a three-hour fire rating in wall applications and one-hour fire rating in ceiling applications.

Kingspan Insulated Panels North America president Alswinn Kieboom said "As a result of continued growth and optimism for the future, the addition of this new facility complements our existing footprint in North America, giving us better access to our customer base. We are looking forward to launching this new site and having a presence in the Midwest."

Australia: Murray Industrial Hemp has announced plans for an upcoming hemp-based building materials plant in Barham, New South Wales. Its products will include alternative insulation panels. Local press has reported that all of the plant’s products will align with Australia's new 7-Star Building Standards for energy-efficient homes. Murray Industrial Hemp expects to commission the plant by early 2026.

Director Joe D'Alo said "We believe industrial hemp holds the key to transforming how Australia builds. Our goal is to assist mainstream builders, enabling them to seamlessly integrate hemp building products into their standard processes. The building process doesn’t change with hemp blocks and hemp panels."

Egypt: Smith Troy for Chemical Industries says that it expects to commission a new US$5m insulation line at Amreya, Alexandria, in June 2024. Business News Africa has reported that trial production will then run for two to three months. Smith Troy for Chemical Industries' CEO Walid Gamal el-Din said that the plant will export 80% of its production, which will contribute US$10m in sales in its first year of operations.

Russia/Kazakhstan: TechnoNICOL plans to invest US$109m in capital expenditure (CAPEX) in Russia and Kazakhstan throughout 2024. The sum is triple TechnoNICOL’s 2023 CAPEX, according to the company. US$27.3m will go towards two projects in Kazakhstan: the completion of the upcoming Almaty insulation plant, scheduled for September 2024, and the start of construction of the upcoming Karaganda insulation plant. The remainder of the sum will fund other projects, including the construction of the upcoming Rostov insulation plant and an expansion to the Chelyabinsk insulation plant, both in Russia.

US: Rockwool North America plans to build a new US$175m stone wool insulation plant at Wallula Gap, Washington. The Denmark-based producer has acquired 101 hectares of land at the Port of Walla Walla, local press has reported. The upcoming plant will produce insulation using Washington’s abundant igneous rock.

Rockwool North America already operates two other US plants, at Byhalia in Mississippi and Ranson in West Virginia, alongside a further two in Canada. It employs 1100 people, and this will rise by 11% to over 1200 people following the entry into operation of the Wallula Gap plant.

Mongolia: Mongol Basalt produced 2248t of stone wool insulation in 2024, which it says helped Mongolians to reduce their energy consumption by 78GW. Nonetheless, the producer’s sales fell by 20%, amid a 35% drop in its prices.

During 2023, Mongol Basalt commenced construction of a new production line at its Ulaanbaatar insulation plant. The UB Post newspaper has reported that the company expects the upgrade to double its capacity to 50,000t/yr, and to introduce new energy-efficient solutions.

France: Soprema plans to begin building a new polyurethane (PU) insulation plant at Sausheim, near Mulhouse, in mid-late 2024. The producer says that it will invest Euro50m and enter production at the upcoming plant in 2026. When operational, the Sausheim insulation plant will complement Soprema’s existing Saint-Julien-du-Sault and Nîmes plants, and serve Grand Est, Austrian, Germany and Switzerland. The plant will generate 80 direct jobs and a similar number again of indirect jobs.

France: Saint-Gobain subsidiary Isonat is investing Euro10m in a capacity expansion to its Mably insulation wood fibre insulating panels plant. French Collection News has reported that the expansion will double the plant’s capacity to 42,000t/yr. The company says that it aims to double its sales in two years. It noted growing demand for bio-sourced materials and the availability of favourable home renovations subsidies.

Kazakhstan: Cormatex and the Kazakhstan Investment Development Fund say that their upcoming insulation plant will come online in 2024. Local press has reported the location of the plant as the city of Aktobe, in the region of the same name.