Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US/Denmark: The board of directors at Denmark's Rockwool have approved a plan to establish the group's first production facility in the United States. The new plant will be constructed in Marshall County, Mississippi, approximately 50km from Memphis, Tennessee. Subject to the successful completion of due diligence in the coming months, the plant is expected to be ready in 2014 and will, when reaching full capacity, be able to deliver more than 100,000t/yr of stone wool insulation. The investment is expected to total around Euro125m.

Commenting on the expansion, Rockwool CEO Eelco van Heel said, "We have seen strong interest from big DIY chains to offer our products to their customers. The unique thermal, acoustic and fire safe qualities of our stone wool insulation are appreciated by their customers. With this new plant in the southern part of the US, we are happy to expand our geographical coverage to new regions of the continent where we are currently not present. The additional capacity will also support our strong growth in other key insulation markets such as commercial buildings, flat roofs and industrial applications".

Rockwool has seen good sales growth in North America in recent years despite the otherwise troubled US construction sector. To date the US market has been serviced from the group's two factories in Canada. In 2011 sales in North America accounted for 8% of total group sales. This share is expected to grow in the coming years.

Russia: Denmark's Rockwool has opened a US$150m plant producing insulating materials in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan. A second production line may be added to double capacity. The economic zone now has six plants from a variety of companies.

Eelco van Heel, Rockwool president and CEO, said at the opening ceremony that this was the group's biggest plant in the world with a capacity of 110,000t/yr, and its biggest investment in a new plant. Its products will supply the Volga region, Urals, Siberia and Kazakhstan. Russian Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina said at the ceremony, "We aim to reduce the energy-output ratio of GDP to 40% by 2020 and that means using energy-saving technologies." Heat consumption is currently high in Russia - it takes roughly three times more energy per cubic meter to heat buildings in Russia than in Scandinavia, which has a comparable climate.

US: Dow Chemical Company, the world's second-largest chemical producer, plans to close four plants producing Styrofoam. Dow Chemical will close plants that make the insulation material in Portugal, Hungary and the US state of Illinois and it will idle a Styrofoam facility in the Netherlands.

The decision comes as part of a cost saving exercise, including a cut of 900 jobs and a US$350m restructuring charge, to counter weakness in the European construction market and exit a loss-making business in Brazil. The moves are aimed at saving US$250m/yr.

Dow Chemical had cut production during the final quarter of 2011 to levels not seen since early 2009. It cited concerns about ebbing demand in Europe and the outlook in China during a recovery that Chief Executive Andrew Liveris described as 'jagged'. The job cuts represent around 1.7% of Dow's global work force. The effort is part of a broader streamlining program unveiled by the chemical giant in 2011.

Uzbekistan: The Uzbek Metallurgical Plant, based in Bekabad in eastern Uzbekistan, has announced that it will start production of insulation materials by 2014.

The company has started a feasibility study of a US$12m project, which will allow the production of thermal insulating materials, such as mineral wool, mats, and plates. The estimated capacity of the plant will be 10,000t/yr. One of the basalt deposits in the Tashkent region will serve as a raw material base for the new production facility.

The production of thermal insulation is included in a list of investment projects approved by Uzbek President Islam Karimov. According to a representative of the plant, a tender for the purchase of the necessary equipment will be announced in the second half of 2012. The project will be financed through the plant's own funds worth US$3m and loans from Uzbek banks worth US$9m.

Ukraine: Knauf Insulation Ukraine has announced that it intends to increase its share of the Ukrainian fibreglass market to 35% in 2012. The company's 2011 market share was 30%.

"In 2012 the company expects that the thermal insulation materials' market will keep developing and Knauf Insulation Ukraine plans to shore up its position and occupy at least one-third of the fibreglass insulation segment," said company director Andrii Pavlik.

In the long-run the company intends to further develop the Ukranian market and advertise the benefits of the material to Ukrainian consumers. In the future the company intends to open its own heat insulation production plants in Ukraine, but this plan is currently on hold due to the economic downturn. The company has long-established plans for a production site in Fastiv, Kyiv Region, obtaining all necessary permits for the project.

"The economic downturn adjusted the development of Ukraine's construction sector and, consequently, our plans for realisation of the project. As soon as the construction industry demonstrates stable growth I think we will be able to begin building our factory," Pavlik said.

Kazakhstan: A new Vodokanalstroy Company mineral wool plant has started operation in the city of Karaganda in Karaganda region as part of the Business Roadmap-2020 programme.

The executive director of the company, Mikhail Lashkov, said, "The project cost USD11.2m. The sources of financing were our own funds, accounting for USD7.6m and a loan of USD3.7m borrowed at an interest rate of 7%/yr."

According to Lashkov, the production capacity of the plant is 85,000m3/yr of thermal insulation material. "The main product of the plant are mineral wool slabs with Misot synthetic binding agent," he added. The raw materials for the products are sourced from ArcelorMittal Temirtau.

"There is a huge demand for heat insulation materials in Kazakhstan and 85% of such products are imported. Now the imports can be reduced," said Lashkov.

Russia: Denmark's Rockwool, the world leader in manufacturing environmental thermal insulation materials, will spend USD150m on the first rockwool production line in Tatarstan's Alabuga special economic zone. The new Alabuga plant, which will have a capacity of about 110,000t/yr of products, represents the largest investment in Rockwool's history. When built, the plant will be the largest of its kind in the world. The plant is even designed for the installation of a second production line, which would increase the capacity to 250,000t/yr. It will be the fourth Rockwool production line in Russia.

The new plant is scheduled for opening in the first quarter 2012, creating at least 200 jobs. It will supply its products to the Volga region, Urals region and Siberia. It will additionally export to Kazakhstan. The roll-out of the new plant will allow Russia to substantially reduce its dependence on thermal insulation imports.

Commenting on the choice of venue for the project, Rockwool's Director General Nick Vince said, "We considered a total of 22 factors. At the top of the list is the full support of the authorities that we found here. The other pluses are tax benefits, a large space (48 hectares), convenient transport system, availability of a hydroelectric station 15km away and that of natural gas. A solid workforce is important. All these factors taken together make Alabuga an ideal venue for our project."

Continuing, Vince said, "We favourably assess the Russian economy's long-term potential. Buildings account for about 40% of the thermal energy produced in the country. There is a vast potential for increasing energy-efficiency and demand for thermal insulation materials."

Slovakia: Johns Manville (JM) has announced plans to expand current fibre insulation production capacities in its Trnava facility in Slovakia. According to JM, an expanded furnace will be installed at the plant, which is due to be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2012. It will enable added production flexibility within JM's product families and expand the production of selected products by as much as 40%.

In 2004 JM invested in a greenfield project to produce glass fibres at the site. The company says that its expansion plan clearly demonstrates its commitment to the European composites business.

Enno Henze, JM's vice president and general manager for Engineered Products Europe/Asia stated, "We feel confident that this major investment will continue to support our customers' plans for growth and underscores JM's commitment to growing the composites industry. Additionally, it highlights our drive to enhance customer relationships, product innovation and service excellence."

"With our commitment to innovative growth and the financial stability provided by being a part of the Berkshire Hathaway family of businesses, our fibres business is set to make its mark while supporting the growth agenda of our customers," added Henze.

Belarus: The Caparol group of companies has opened its Diskom plant in the free economic zone at Brest to make up to 20,000t of dry insulation every year. The construction took 18 months to build and cost Euro3.1m. The new plant is equipped with WTB Binder Labortechnik GmbH production facilities. The project has created 21 jobs.

Previously, insulation systems were imported into Belarus but Diskom will be making licensed insulation materials domestically using 80% domestic components. The plant will prioritise the domestic market during the first development phase and then export its products to the Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

India: A new Rockwool insulation plant has been opened up in Dahej, Gujarat. The company claims that the material it produces will have the ability to save 1Bnt/yr of CO₂ if applied.

Frank Jacobs, Managing Director-Rockwool Technical Insulation, said, "If the insulation materials produced in our new facility in India are not installed, a forest with almost the size of the state of Gujarat would need to be planted to compensate for the resulting CO₂ emissions. Effective insulation of technical installations-such as hot pipes, boilers and tanks-can save literally millions of tonnes of CO₂, helping to protect the environment, whilst at the same time saving operators millions of rupees."