Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

France: Etex has invested Euro25m towards upgrading four of its French Siniat polystyrene factories plants in its gypsum division. The investment is intended to reinforce Siniat's market share of exterior polystyrene-backed plasterboards for insulation.

Euro12m has been allocated to the Rantigny plant to raise its annual production capacity of back liners and insulating façade panels to 500,000m3. Euro7m will go to the Château-Gontier factory plant and Euro5.5m to the Loriol plant to expand and automate production capacity. Euro0.5m will be used to complete the production line at the Villeneuve-sur-Lot plant.

Russia: Penoplex has started its eighth insulation materials plant at Novomoskovsk, Russia, at a cost of over Euro11.4m. The plant has a production capacity of up to 0.3Mm² expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulating foam. The company produces about 2.5Mm²/yr of thermal insulation material. It manufactures extruded materials, such as products for heat insulation and water-proofing, The Russian-based insulation producer has a total of 50 distributors across Russia.

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.

Saudi Arabia: Arabian Fiberglass Insulation (AFICO), a joint-venture between Owens Corning and Zamil Industrial Investment, has inaugurated its new fibreglass manufacturing plant costing US$50m in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

The plant has an installed insulation production capacity of 24,000Mt/yr, increasing the company's total capacity to 37,000Mt/yr. The additional capacity is intended to assist local governing authorities in the Gulf Cooperation Countries with on-going efforts to implement more stringent building code requirements aimed at increased energy efficiency and fire safety standards.

AFICO has been a leading regional manufacturer of fibreglass insulation products since 1982, utilising the know-how and technical specifications of Owens Corning under license.

Russia: Danish insulation materials producer Rockwool is planning to invest around Euro121m in a new plant near Moscow in Russia. Nick Vince, Rockwool's top executive for Russia, says that the company has reached a limit for what it is worthwhile to invest in the existing factory in Moscow, according to Esmerk Danish News.

The need to invest in a new facility is attributed to the growing number of orders received by Rockwool in Russia amid a building boom and a political pressure to make Russia more energy-efficient.

US: Roxul, a subsidiary of Denmark-based Rockwool International, has officially broken ground on its US$160m, 183,000m²/yr mineral wool plant in Byhalia, Mississippi. The facility, which was announced in June 2012, will create 150 jobs when it is completed in 2014. The location will be Roxul's first plant outside of Canada.

"Rockwool and Roxul are delighted to be locating and constructing our first United States plant and believe that this will enable us to meet the growing demand for our stone wool insulation product," said president of Roxul, Trent Ogilvie in a statement. He added that the company had analysed several possible sites in the south-eastern US before selecting Byhalia.

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.

China: Danish insulation maker Rockwool International has announced that its board of directors have approved a plan to construct a plant in China costing around Euro110m. The new plant will be constructed in Tianjin, approximately 150km from Beijing in northern China. The plant is expected to be ready by the end of 2014 and will have a capacity of more than 120,000t/yr of mineral wool insulation.

"We have seen a good sales development since we acquired the Australian company CSR's insulation activities in southern China in 2010," said Rockwool division managing director for East Division Theo Kooij. "So far the majority of our sales have gone to industrial insulation. With the new plant in the northern part of China we can now target the promising market for building insulation, which has the potential to become the biggest in the world over time. High-rise buildings, where fire safety is a serious concern, stand out as a promising segment for our non-combustible insulation. The national and regional authorities in China are now expressing a high interest in improving the fire safety of insulated buildings."

In 2011, sales in Asia accounted for 5% of the total group sales for Rockwool and this share is expected to grow in the coming years. China is the group's biggest single Asian market.

Malaysia: PGF Insulation, a Penang based glass wool manufacturer, has completed its two phase plant upgrade. Starting in 2010, the plant has undergone a plant upgrade that involved changing its curing oven, fiberising technology, melting furnace and adding a new production line. The upgraded plant has a capacity of 20,000t/yr.

PGF says that the increased capacity is needed to cater for the expected growth in Asia Pacific, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East due to increased awareness of energy efficiency and of the benefits of mineral wool insulation.

Other than the traditional building application, the plant is also able to mass produce superior quality glass wool for Vacuum Insulation Panels.

Egypt: GlassRock Insulation Company, part of regional mining platform Ascom, has reported the successful completion of the commissioning phase of its new production line for glass wool. The new production line will produce 20,000t/yr of glass wool increasing the plant's total production to 50,000t/yr, of which 30,000t/yr is mineral wool.

"We are exceptionally proud to be manufacturing these strategic insulation materials, which can be used as both residential thermal insulation and as acoustic insulation. Our products can help to significantly reduce the impact of the energy crisis that Egypt is currently facing," said chief executive officer Bechir Dardour. According to Dardour the glass wool insulation that will be produced in GlassRock's Sadat City Free Zone plant is being manufactured principally with local materials.

In September 2012 GlassRock announced the launch of its first mineral wool production line. The company is now targeting exports to key markets in Europe, North Africa, the Gulf Cooperation Countries and Turkey.