Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Denmark: Rockwool recorded net sales of Euro2.60bn, down by 4% year-on-year in local currency terms. Profit for the year fell by 12% to Euro251m. Sales were supported in regions where construction was able to remain active throughout the coronavirus lockdowns. The company noted a strong recovery in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Chief executive officer Jens Birgersson said, “Looking back on a turbulent year, we are proud of how well our colleagues handled the many challenges. Our teams ensured employees were safe while quickly adjusting operations, sales and service to match the changing needs of our customers.”

The company plans to make Euro370m of investments, excluding acquisitions in 2021. Planned investments include a new plant in the US and a plant relocation in China, in addition to capacity expansions for its Rockfon and Grodan stone wool businesses.

The group said, “The underlying medium to long-term structural growth drivers for stone wool products are even stronger today than at the start of 2020. On top of fundamental trends like urbanisation and increasingly tighter building regulations, we expect that several other trends will continue driving growth in our business. For example, the growing focus on energy efficiency, fire safety and circularity continues to influence the decisions of consumers, the building industry and policymakers, with the pandemic accelerating these trends in multiple ways.”

Slovakia: US-based Johns Manville has commissioning of a 3t/hr glass fibre recycling unit at its Trnava engineered product plant. The company says that the facility will recycle waste glass fibres from continuous filament glass fibre recycling, reducing landfill waste by 10,000t/yr. The total cost of the installation is around Euro10m.

Europe/Asia environment, health and safety manager Elena Hrivikova said, “The primary goal of this investment is to achieve a tangible positive environmental impact by drastically reducing the landfilling of glass fibre waste. This project is part of our response to the European Commission’s Zero Waste programme and our overall target for sustainable management of the planet’s natural resources.”

Johns Manville’s Engineering Products division manufactures synthetic and glass fiber nonwoven products for construction such as insulation and gypsum board facers.

UK: Italy-based Hennecke-OMS says that it has received an order for a 45m/min lamination line for Ballytherm UK’s upcoming 1.2Mm²/yr Herefordshire polyisocyanurate (PIR) and polyurethane (PUR) insulation plant. The plant consists of a continuous foaming line including a 38m double belt conveyor and foaming, mixing and distribution units for the PUR foam inside the two flexible facings, a cross cutting unit, a panel cooling section and stacking and packing equipment. The company said, “The entire plant in a fully automatic cycle and is controlled by a series of electric control panels based on an industrial Siemens S7 PLC and with relevant interface operator panels.”

The supplier added, “The choice of Hennecke-OMS as the supplier for Ballytherm’s second plant confirms the excellent co-operation between supplier and customer, as well as Hennecke-OMS’ leading position in continuous plant technology.”

Installation will commence in October 2020 and Ballytherm plans to commission the line in early 2021. It has future potential for expansion to 70m/min lamination capacity, according to the supplier.

Austria: Austrotherm has announced the launch of Fit for the Future, a capital expenditure (CAPEX) plan worth Euro10m in investments in its Pinkafeld and Purbach, Burgenland plants. The plans consist of a new office building with training centre and workshop at the Pinkafeld plant, “intended to illustrate how sustainable construction for office buildings should be implemented in the future,” and a 3600m² finished goods warehouse at the Purbach plant, as well as ‘numerous digitisation and automation projects’ across both plants.

Managing Director Klaus Haberfeller said, “Despite all the adversities of the Covid-19 outbreak, we have started an investment programme that will make our two Burgenland locations fit for the future. We are investing in the modernisation of the infrastructure and in optimising the processes at the locations in order to increase efficiency and occupational safety, and, as a positive side effect, benefit the regional construction industry.”

Serbia: Austria-based Austrotherm has started operation on a new extruded polystyrene (XPS) production line at its Nis plant. The upgrade cost Euro3.5m and has created 15 new jobs at the site. It originally purchased the expanded polystyrene (EPS) and XPS plant in 2005 and it exports products to Albania, Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bulgaria.

“We are particularly proud that we were able to complete the capacity expansion in Serbia as planned, despite all the Corona adversities,” said Klaus Haberfellner, managing director of Austrotherm.

UK: Recticel Insulation says that its production plant in Stoke-on-Trent is ‘Covid-19 Secure Certified.’ This confirmation is defined by the UK government and is designed to enhance safety and provide our staff with confidence in their workplace. Measures taken to meet this standard include conducting a risk assessment, implementing cleaning, handwashing and hygiene procedures in line with national guidance, encouraging remote working, maintaining social distancing in the workplace and minimising transmission risks where distancing is not possible.

The company also contracted an independent business risk management company to carry out an independent validation audit of its COVID-19 secure risk assessment. The insulation producer says it will, “continue to monitor the government’s advice, and will update measures as required to ensure safety is maintained for staff and visitors alike.”

US: Johns Manville says that it has begun production of a new specially-developed coated polyester spunbond nonwoven fabric for use in Level 3 medical gowns for healthcare professionals fighting the coronavirus outbreak. It is producing the material, called Evalith, at its Spartanburg special applications building materials plant in South Carolina.

Johns Mansville engineered products president John Vasuta said, “Given the urgent need for action, we quickly decided to build on our own capabilities and develop a coated product to supply the domestic medical gown manufacturing industry. The fabric offers superior liquid barrier performance compared to materials used for Level 1 and Level 2 medical gowns, while also providing comfort and stitch-strength.”

France: Switzerland-based Sika has entered production of facemasks at its Dexel building materials plant in Les Salles du Gardon, Gard department. Sika says that the plant produces 15,000 masks/day ‘almost entirely from Sika products.’ It will distribute the masks around customers and employees and has received an order for 165,000 masks.

Sika Europe, Middle East and Africa regional manager Ivo Schädler said, “We find ourselves in an exceptional situation that confronts us with new challenges on an almost daily basis, especially in those countries worst hit by coronavirus. Our top priority is to protect our employees, their families, and our customers – which also includes finding unconventional ways of helping them.”

US: Huntsman has repurposed its McIntosh, Alabama high performance and speciality epoxy resins plant for the production of hand sanitizer, which it will supply to health care facilities fighting the coronavirus outbreak across the US. The recipient of its first 5.0t batch was its own Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. Huntsman president and CEO Peter Huntsman said, “We thank the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for moving swiftly to issue the guidelines that have enabled us to fast-track our production and distribution of much-needed hand sanitizer in the US.”

Denmark: Rockwool’s post-tax profit for 2019 was Euro285m, up by 7.5% from Euro265m in 2018. Sales rose by 3.2% to Euro2.8bn from Euro2.7bn. The company’s insulation section saw ‘mixed market conditions’ but ‘showed modest growth’ over the period, thanks in particular to state-supported energy efficiency improvement in construction practices generating increased demand in the South-West Europe region.

Rockwool said that it invested in long-term growth, having opened a plant in Romania in late-2019, with a capacity expansion to a German plant due to come online in mid-2020 and a further plant in the US to follow in early 2021. Rockwool Group chairman Henrik Brandt and CEO Jens Birgersson said, “For the fifth year in a row, our customer satisfaction scores increased.” Satisfaction rose by 14% year-on-year.