Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: Rockwool has started production at its Marshall County, Mississippi mineral wool plant. The US$164m plant, the Danish insulation producer's first in the US, is expected to be fully operational by mid-2015. The plant will employ 150 people and produce more than 100,000t/yr for the North American market.

"The new plant will enable us to increase our sales for insulation products in the USA. We have been experiencing double-figure growth rates in the North American market over recent years and there is still considerable potential for growth in the market, which is mainly dominated by glass fibre and plastic foam products," said Trent Ogilvie, President of Roxul, Rockwool's subsidiary in North America. Over the last year the company has experienced such an increase in demand that the it has been forced to import from Europe.

Denmark: Danish insulation materials producer Rockwool plans to invest Euro67m to modernise its plant in Øster Doense in Jutland. No further details have been released.

Denmark: Rockwool International has reported that its net sales rose by 2% year-on-year to Euro494m for the second quarter of 2013 that ended on 30 June 2013. It attributed the rebound to a recovery in the western European insulation market, especially in Spain, Italy and the UK.

The Danish insulation producer saw its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rise by 4% to Euro75.6m from Euro7.24m. Profit for the period rose by 8% to Euro26m from Euro24.1m.

In its income statement Rockwool explained that as well as improvements in western European markets it had also seen development in Poland and continued good sales in Russia. Sales in North American remained strong but sales in China disappointed the insulation producer, due to uncertain legislation on the mandatory use of non-mineral wool insulation.

As Reuters reported, from an interview with Rockwool CEO Eelco van Heel, China's changing legislation on non-mineral wool insulation lost the company an order for 25,000t of stone wool placed in late 2012. As a consequence, Rockwool is postponing the construction of a planned factory in China, where it acquired its first and so far only factory in 2010.

For its outlook for the remainder of 2013, Rockwool expects that its net sales will slightly surpass those of 2012.

Denmark: Rockwool International has reported that its net sales rose by 2% year-on-year to Euro494m for the second quarter of 2013 that ended on 30 June 2013. It attributed the rebound to a recovery in the western European insulation market, especially in Spain, Italy and the UK.

The Danish insulation producer saw its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rise by 4% to Euro75.6m from Euro7.24m. Profit for the period rose by 8% to Euro26m from Euro24.1m.

In its income statement Rockwool explained that as well as improvements in western European markets it had also seen development in Poland and continued good sales in Russia. Sales in North American remained strong but sales in China disappointed the insulation producer, due to uncertain legislation on the mandatory use of non-mineral wool insulation.

As Reuters reported, from an interview with Rockwool CEO Eelco van Heel, China's changing legislation on non-mineral wool insulation lost the company an order for 25,000t of stone wool placed in late 2012. As a consequence, Rockwool is postponing the construction of a planned factory in China, where it acquired its first and so far only factory in 2010.

For its outlook for the remainder of 2013, Rockwool expects that its net sales will slightly surpass those of 2012.

Denmark/US: The Danish insulation group Rockwool Group has announced that it has entered into an agreement, on behalf of its RockfonGroup affiliate, to acquire the American ceiling company Chicago Metallic Corporation (CMC). CMC, headquartered in Chicago, is a global provider of architectural building products and services, including metal panels and ceiling systems, suspended grid systems and acoustical and sustainable ceiling panels. It has a network of sales and distribution channels throughout North America, Europe and Asia supported by production facilities in China, Malaysia, Belgium and the US.

Founded in 1893, CMC has been owned by the Jahn family since 1937. Current Chairman and CEO, Charles Jahn commented, "The complementary product and service offerings of Rockfon and CMC will provide our mutual customers with a wider choice throughout the world. The values of the Jahn and Kähler founding families are strongly aligned and will provide an excellent platform to continue to serve our customers well into the future. We look forward to the exciting growth opportunities to come from this transaction."

Commenting on the acquisition, Division Managing Director of the Rockwool Group's Systems Division, Herman Voortman, said, "This acquisition complements well the existing Rockfon business concept. It will allow us to offer and develop more complete solutions to our customers by offering not only ceiling panels but also the metallic grid which is a key element in the suspended ceiling system."

Denmark: Danish insulations materials producer Rockwool International has agreed to acquire BASF Wall Systems, which is owned by the BASF Group. The group's German subsidiary Deutsche Rockwool will acquire all of the German external façade insulation producer including a factory in Marktredwitz and the HECK MultiTherm and Rajasil brands.

"This is a major leap forward for the Rockwool Group's strategy of offering customers more complete solutions consisting not only of insulation but also all the other necessary elements of a total facade system such as paint, render, etc. The BASF Wall Systems business is in this respect a great asset," said division managing director of the Rockwool Group's Europe division, Henrik Frank Nielsen. He added that purchase enhances the group's façade strategy and gives it a 'significant' foothold in the German External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems (ETICS) market.

Rockwool declined to comment on the value of the deal, saying that the deal was too small to have any impact on the buyer's valuation. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2013. BASF Wall Systems had a turnover of Euro68m in 2012 and it had 190 employees.

Denmark: The Danish Maritime and Commercial Court has ruled that Danish insulation materials producer Rockwool International has violated marketing laws by describing insulation materials based on foam plastic 'in an unnecessarily frightening manner' in a newsletter. Trade organisation The Danish Plastics Federation submitted a complaint against Rockwool's description.

The court stated that Rockwool exaggerated the negative consequences of a rival's product. Rockwool has not been ordered to pay damages to the organisation as it has not been established that the rival had suffered financially from Rockwool's actions.

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.

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.