Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Denmark: Rockwool has announced its first half results for 2018. Sales for the half reached Euro1.27bn, 16.9% more in local currency terms. In the second quarter, sales were up by 17.3% to Euro667m. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the first half reached Euro161m, an increase of 47% year-on-year. EBIT in the second quarter was Euro91m, an increase of 43% year-on-year.

Investments in the first half of 2018 reached Euro89m, an increase of Euro26m compared to the first half of 2017, primarily due to ongoing capacity expansions in Poland and the United States.

The outlook for 2018 from the company is positive. It expects net sales to grow by 13-15% during 2018 in local currency terms, including around 2-3% from its acquisition of Flumroc.

Commenting on the Group’s performance, CEO Jens Birgersson said, “Our half-year results show solid improvement on both sales and profitability, underlining strengthened performance towards customers and growing market demand for our non-combustible insulation and other stone wool products. With sales up in all regions, Rockwool’s 11,000 highly dedicated and committed employees are the driving force behind these positive results.”

Denmark: Based on preliminary reporting, Rockwool Group is increasing its expected growth forecast for net sales for 2018 from 7-10% in local currencies to 13-15% in local currencies.

For the first half, the main preliminary highlights were a sales increase to Euro1.27bn, a 17% increase in local currency terms. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) increased by 47% to Euro161m. Rockwool Group will publish its full first half results on 24 August 2018.

Rockwool says that market conditions for the remainder of 2018 look promising across larger European stonewool markets, including Germany, Poland, France and the UK, as well as in North America.

US: Sixty protestors have met with the Charles Town City Council in West Virginia to complain about a new stone wool plant being built in Ranson, Jefferson County. They asked that the council do more research into the effects the plant would have on the local environment, according to the Martinsburg Journal. Rockwool broke ground on the project in late June 2018 and it is expected to open in early 2020.

Romania: Denmark’s Rockwool has started construction work on a new stone wool plant at Ploiesti in Prahova county. Production at the Euro50m unit is scheduled to start in 2019, according to the Ziarul Financiar newspaper. Local construction company CON-A has been placed in charge of the project.

US: Rockwool has officially broken ground at a new stone wool in Ranson, Jefferson County in West Virginia. Once completed it will be the company’s second stone wool plant in the country. The project has had an investment of over US$150m and it will employ around 150 people when it opens. The unit is expected to open in the first quarter of 2020. It will manufacture a full range of Rockwool stone wool insulation products.

“Solid customer demand and strong market growth in the US and elsewhere reflects the reality that people are increasingly discovering the quality and advantages of our stone wool solutions. This is our second factory in the United States, which positions us well for future growth,” said Jen s Birgersson, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Rockwool Group.

Denmark: Rockwool’s sales have been driven by its insulation markets in Europe and North America. Its sales revenue grew by 17.3% year-on-year to Euro468m in the first quarter of 2018 from Euro399m in the same period in 2017. Earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) for its insulation business rose by 98% to Euro55m from Euro28m. Overall sales and earnings for the company across all business lines rose at a slower rate.

“The strong first quarter performance is primarily driven by growing demand for our non-combustible insulation as well as our focus on productivity improvements and pricing. Owing to our broad-based manufacturing footprint, particularly in Europe, we are able to flexibly service growing customer demand, even if this results in somewhat increased logistics costs,” the company said in a statement.

Germany/Poland: Rockwool plans to build new production lines at its stone wool insulation plants at Malkinia in Poland and Neuburg in Germany. The expansions are intended to target demand in new builds and renovation for non-combustible stone wool insulation, particularly in the external wall system and flat roof insulation segments. The upgrade work at Malkinia also includes improved environmental measures.

“Demand for stone wool insulation is expected to grow in key European markets, and expanding existing facilities lets us add capacity relatively quickly. We are also making good progress on multiple initiatives to optimise and upgrade other of our manufacturing facilities to boost output and reinforce our market-leading position,” said Rockwool Group chief executive officer (CEO) Jens Birgersson.

The new production capacity is scheduled to come on line in the second quarter of 2019 in Poland the second quarter of 2020 in Germany. The cost of the investment is approximately Euro175m. The insulation producer is also planning to increase production capacity at other plants through modifications to equipment and workflow to eliminate bottlenecks.

Denmark: Rockwool has appointed Bjørn Rici Andersen as Senior Vice President for Group Operations and Technology. Andersen, currently working as Vice President, Group Operations, will join the Group Management role on 1 March 2018. Bernard Plancade, who has previously held this role in Group Management since 2015, will become Managing Director for Rockwool Core Solutions, based in Paris.

Switzerland: Denmark’s Rockwool has purchased all the shares of Flumroc. Previously Rockwool owned a 43.5% share in the Swiss mineral wool producer. Flumroc operates two plants in the country and it sells its products mainly in Switzerland with limited exports to France and Italy. The company will continue to operate under the Flumroc brand.

Romania: Rockwool Group has announced plans to build a basalt mineral wool production plant in Romania, a project worth an estimated Euro50m. The basalt mineral wool plant, Rockwool Group's first in Romania, will create around 150 jobs, while an additional 300 will be created indirectly in services and logistics, Rockwool said in a press release. The process of issuing permits and authorisations was already initiated, so that production of basalt mineral wool is expected to start in 2019.

The new production unit will spread over approximately 30 hectares in Ariceştii Rahtivani commune near the southern city of Ploiesti. The project will strengthen the group's strong presence in Romania, a market that has been active for almost 20 years through its local sales branch.

The plant will contribute to the growth of the local economy, given that most of the raw materials and logistics services will come from Romania, and most of the workforce directly employed by Rockwool or the subcontractors will be local, the company said.

"This investment will allow us to better support Romania's efforts to increase fire safety and energy efficiency in its buildings,” said Rockwool Group’s Senior Vice President Gilles Maria. “We encourage the government to continue to work with the EU Member States within the Firefighting Information Exchange Platform (FIEP) as well as other initiatives that will improve the fire safety regulations.”