Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Romania: Knauf Insulation has broken ground on the construction of a second insulation plant at the site of its existing Târnăveni mineral wool insulation plant. SeeNews has reported that, when commissioned in 2024, the new plant will have a production capacity of 100Mm²/yr of mineral wool insulation. It will also create 100 new jobs. Knauf Insulation said that the project will bring its total investments in the Târnăveni site to Euro135m.

Romania: Knauf Insulation’s revenue grew by 40% year-on-year to Euro27.2m in 2022 from Euro19.4m in 2021. It attributed this to increased sales volumes and higher pricing, according to the Ziarul Financiar newspaper. The subsidiary of Germany-based Knauf acquired the Târnăveni glass wool insulation plant from Gecsat in mid-2022. It later announced plans for a Euro135m upgrade to the site including expanding the existing unit and building a new plant adjacent to it. Construction work on the project was schedule in start in January 2023.

Romania: Austrotherm has commissioned its third Romanian insulation plant in Calan, near Deva, Hunedoara County. The new Euro6m facility will produce the company's Austrotherm EPS and Austrotherm EPS-Plus expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation, and also houses office spaces and storehouses. Sales manager Roxana Ghioca said that the storage capacity will enable the site to supply the Transylvanian market with Austrotherm's EPS and extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation product offering.

Austrotherm managing director Klaus Haberfellner said “Transylvania is among the Central and Northwestern Romanian regions currently with a good economic situation. One third of Austrotherm Romania's topwinds are generated in this region. The existing EPS plants - which are situated a long distance from this have already reached their capacity limit." Addressing Romania's need for insulation, Haberfellner said "If not now, when does saving energy make more sense? The dramatic increase in energy prices has long since arrived in Romania."

Romania: Austria-based Austrotherm has concluded an agreement to acquire 100% ownership of extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation panels producer Zentyss. Zentyss operates a plant in Arad, Transylvania.

Austrotherm managing director Klaus Haberfellner said "This acquisition increases the security of supply and the range of products for customers in Romania and neighboring countries. The central location of Arad enables the optimisation of transport routes to customers, which means that CO₂ emissions can be massively reduced." He concluded "Our leadership position in XPS in Romania is now well secured. I am particularly pleased to welcome 106 new colleagues to our company."

Romania: Knauf Insulation will invest Euro135m in expanding its Târnăveni glass wool insulation plant and building a new adjacent plant at the site. Knauf Insulation says that the major expansion will advance the Romanian government's 'energy savings offensive' by supporting a renovation drive for the country’s housing stock. The government aims to increase the national area of modern renovated properties by a factor of six, with a Euro30bn allocation from its Recovery and Resilience Fund.

Germany-based Knauf's managing partner Alexander Knauf said “The commitment demonstrates our trust and confidence in the country and our employees. We look forward to becoming part of the local community. Together, we are setting new standards for building and living in Romania.”

Operations at the original Târnăveni glass wool insulation plant recently recommenced following a Euro4m upgrade by Knauf Insulation, which completed its acquisition of the plant in May 2022. Previous owner Gecsat produced insulation at the site from 2008.

Romania: Knauf Insulation has begun mineral wool production at its recently acquired Tarnaveni plant in central Romania after investing Euro4m in upgrades. The investment covered the initial stages of modernisation at the Gecsat plant production line in Mures County, according to a Knauf press release.

A second stage of refurbishment began in September 2022. Once the entire investment plan is implemented, the Knauf Insulation factory in Tarnaveni will have an annual production capacity of about 60,000t/yr of mineral wool, with the aim of serving both domestic needs, as well as markets in Central and Eastern Europe.

Founded in 1918 in Tarnaveni as Ardeleana Glass Factory, former owner Gecsat started producing glass mineral wool at the site in 2007. Knauf announced that it was acquiring the glass mineral wool plant in January 2022 and became its owner in March 2022.

Romania: Knauf Insulation has completed its acquisition of Gecsat. Business World Magazine News has reported that Gecsat operates a glass wool insulation plant in Tarnaveni, Mures County. In 2020, it recorded revenues of Euro6.6m. Knauf Insulation’s Romanian portfolio includes glass wool, basalt mineral wool and wood fibreboard operations.

Knauf Group management committee member and Insulation Europe, Middle East and Asia chief executive officer Dominique Bossan said "The acquisition of the Romanian plant will support Knauf Insulation's growth goals and provide additional capacity to meet the growing demand for our insulation solutions in the region.”

Romania: Belgium-based Knauf Insulation has agreed to acquire the Târnăveni glass wool plant from Gecsat for an undisclosed sum.

Dominique Bossan, the group chief executive officer of Knauf Insulation, said “The Romanian acquisition will support Knauf Insulation’s growth ambitions and add extra capacity to meet increasing demand for our solutions across the Eastern European and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) regions.” He added that the company plans to upgrade the plant after the acquisition has been completed.

Romania: France-based Saint-Gobain has completed its acquisition of adhesives and construction chemicals producer Duraviz for an undisclosed sum.

The group said that the acquisition will enable it to expand its interior and exterior finishing product range. Saint-Gobain employs 1800 people at 12 sites in Romania.

Romania: France-based Saint-Gobain has acquired Duraziv, a producer of adhesives and other construction chemicals. The group said that the purchase would allow it to expand its range of interior and exterior finishing solutions. It also hopes the move will drive an improvement in the energy efficiency of buildings in Romania thanks to external thermal insulation solutions (ETICS) based on locally-produced stone wool and mortars. This latest addition follows the recent acquisition of Russia-based Adhesive Scientific and Production Company, a producer of polyurethane (PUR) and epoxy products.