Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: IQ Fibers plans to build a cellulose insulation plant at West Easton in Pennsylvania. The project will have an investment from US$5.4m and it will create 43 jobs. The company has received funding from the Department of Community and Economic Development to develop the unit.

“We are extremely proud of our facility and the highly engineered cellulose fibre products we manufacture. With the market demand for more environmentally-friendly solutions, we believe this is the right time and place to launch our company. We greatly appreciate the assistance of the Governor’s Action Team and Governor Wolf’s commitment for business growth,” said George Day, chief executive officer (CEO) of IQ Fibers.

IQ Fibers is a start-up cellulose fibre manufacturer. Its line of products includes high-quality cellulose insulation and absorbents that are sold to distributors, contract installers and end users, as well as government agencies, utility companies, and related programs.

US: Johns Manville (JM) plans to build a new fibreglass insulation production line at its McPherson plant in Kansas. The new line will produce its Climate Pro blowing wool product. JM will begin construction on the expansion project later in 2019 pending various governmental approvals. It anticipates the completion in early 2021. When complete, JM will employ more than 330 people in McPherson.

Lithuania: Paroc plans to increase the production capacity of its stone wool plant in Vilnius to 115,000t/yr from 75,000t/yr. The subsidiary of US-based Owens Corning intends to make multiple minor upgrades to reach this goal, according to the Verslo Zinios newspaper. It hopes to achieve the increased production capacity by 2022 subject to market demand.

Belgium: Knauf Insulation plans to install 6000 photovoltaic panels at its Visé mineral wool plant. These will provide 1700MWhr/yr to the unit. The announcement was made at the opening of Knauf Insulation’s Experience Centre in Visé. The centre is intended to act as a knowledge base for best practice and sustainability.

US: Germany’s BASF plans to launch the second phase of its methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) unit at its Verbund plant in Geismar, Louisiana. The first phase of the upgrade was set to double the company’s MDI production capacity to nearly 0.6Mt/yr from 0.3Mt/yr. The new US$87m investment will continue this process. Construction is expected to start in late 2019 with completion scheduled for 2021.

“With the development of the American market, BASF needs this investment to support the growth of our existing customers,” said BASF Senior Vice President Stefan Doerr. “The Geismar site is ideally suited for this investment thanks to the existing infrastructure, competitive raw materials and favourable business support from state and local governments. This investment also demonstrates our strong commitment to our employees, our community and our presence in Louisiana.”

US: Rockwool has started legal action against the Jefferson County Board of Education (BOE) describing its attempts to stop construction of new mineral wool insulation plant as ‘unlawful.’ Court documents filed by the Danish insulation company allege that the BOE is trying to buy land from Rockwool for a low rate to build a student support centre otherwise it has threatened to appropriate it under US condemnation rules. Rockwool contends that the BOE originally supported the new plant with tax breaks but has since change its mind as local activists have opposed the project.

Rockwool started construction work on its US$150m mineral wool plant at Ranson, West Virginia in mid-2018. Production at the site is scheduled to start in early 2020.

US: Canada’s IKO plans to build a new US$70m plant in Hagerstown, Maryland. It will be the company’s sixth US manufacturing location. The 46,000m² plant and warehouse site will be used to manufacture will produce roofing and insulation products including polyisocyanurate insulation. It is scheduled to open in mid-2020.

"Hagerstown is another example of IKO's commitment to building the strongest and most state of the art production network in our industry," said Guy Tremblay, IKO's Vice President of North American Operations.

Russia: TechnoNicol plans to spend around Euro5m on an upgrade to its Chelyabinsk mineral wool plant. The majority of the investment will go towards refurbishing the unit’s production line, according to the AK&M Information Agency. The rest will be spent on installing additional cleaning and treatment systems. Once the upgrade is completed the plant will start producing rolled technical insulation materials based on rock wool. The unit will have a production capacity of 0.27Mm³/yr

Slovenia: A fire has caused damage to Knauf Insulation’s Škofja Loka mineral wool plant. The fire started in a warehouse before spreading on 2 February 2019 before it was extinguished, according to the Slovenian Press Agency. No injuries were reported during the incident. The cause of the blaze is being investigated.

US: Duna-USA has completed an expansion upgrade to its plant and headquarters in Baytown, Texas. The work, which began in late 2016, included the addition of a new manufacturing building, new office building, automated fabrication department and an additional production line. Work on the project finished in late December 2018.

“We’ve significantly increased production and fabrication capabilities, enhanced quality and expect to reduce lead times, while increasing production efficiency at the same time,” said Marta Brozzi, president of the DUNA Group

Duna-USA manufactures polyurethane and polyisocyanurate foams and chemicals for the insulation, aerospace, automotive, marine and construction industries. Italy’s Duna Group, comprised of Duna-Corradini, Duna-USA, and Duna-Emirates, has been manufacturing foams, chemicals and adhesives since 1957. It specialises in the research and development of polyurethane and epoxy systems, with manufacturing locations in the US, Europe and the UAE.