Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Kuwait: Saint-Gobain and Kuwait’s Alghanim Industries have become joint venture partners in insulation producer Kimmco. Kimmco runs a mineral wool plant in Shuaiba-Kuwait, operating under license from Saint-Gobain Isover. It reported sales of around Euro70m in 2016 selling products in Kuwait and the Middle East.

Saint-Gobain and Alghanim Industries already operate joint venture in Turkey (Izocam) and Saudi Arabia (Siimco). Kimmco, like the other common joint-ventures, will be managed jointly by both partners and will be consolidated in Saint-Gobain's accounts.

Romania: Saint-Gobain Isover plans to reopen its glass wool production line at its Ploiesti plant in July 2018. The line is expected to restart following a complete furnace rebuild and other upgrades. 50 new jobs will be created in production, logistics and administrative departments.

“The production line allows Isover to adapt its glass wool production capacity to the market demand in the region, given that Romanian market is the largest of the South-East European region. Our decision was generated by the positive trend registered by the construction market in the past year, a trend that is expected to continue over the next years as well,” said Ovidiu Pascutiu, General Manager for Saint-Gobain Rigips and Isover Romania.

Isover has also announced plans to upgrade its stone wool production line at the Ploiesti plant in 2018. The production capacity of the line will be increased by 30,000t/yr in 2019 following the Euro50m upgrade.

France: Saint-Gobain has continued growing its sales across all businesses in the third quarter of 2017. Its overall sales grew by 4.1% year-on-year to Euro10.2bn in the quarter from Euro9.76bn in the same period in 2016. This trend extends to the year so far, with a rise of 4.3% to Euro30.6bn in the first nine months of 2017, from Euro29.3bn in the same period in 2016.

“The third quarter confirmed the upbeat trends seen in the first half, excluding the impact of the cyber-attack. All business sectors and regions advanced, including France. We continued to see a good price effect against a tougher basis for comparison, but not yet sufficient in all of the group’s businesses given the more inflationary raw material and energy cost environment,” said Pierre-André de Chalendar, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Saint-Gobain. He added that the group had signed 23 acquisitions since the beginning of the year, including the recently finalised Glava deal.

Sales from the group’s Interior Solutions division, which includes gypsum wallboard and insulation products, saw its saw increase by 3.6% to Euro5.11bn from Euro4.94bn. The group attributed the sales growth in this business to ‘healthy’ volume trends in Western Europe and in Asia and emerging countries. Trading in North America was reported as ‘stable’ but with a smaller pricing contribution in a more competitive environment. It added that pricing for the division lags behind rises in input costs such as a raw materials and energy.

Norway: Saint-Gobain has completed its acquisition of insulation producer Glava following the approval of the local competition authority. The deal was first announced in June 2017. The two companies have a long history together through a licence agreement for Isover. Prior to the acquisition, Saint-Gobain owned 17% of Glava’s shares and it was represented on the board of directors.

In conjunction with the purchase Jon Karlsen, the managing director of Glava, has also been appointed as the managing director of Saint-Gobain Byggevarer, a company consisting of the brands Weber and Gyproc.

China: Javier Gimeno, head of Saint-Gobain’s business in Asia-Pacific, has blamed production overcapacity for the company’s decision to stop manufacturing glass wool. He said that overcapacity had forced prices down and lowered margins, according to the Wall Street Journal. He added that the company is targeting profits over 10% and that it wants its business in China to grow faster than the national economy. Subsequently, the group has focused on products such as mortars, plastics and car windows. Gimeno also raised the issue of environmental regulations being stricter for foreign firms in China, although this is changing.

UK: Celotex has stopped supplying its RS5000 polyisocyanurate foam (PIR) insulation board product in rainscreen cladding systems for buildings over 18m tall. The decision is a temporary one whilst an investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire continues. The subsidiary of Saint-Gobain previously confirmed that its product was purchased for use in a refurbishment project at the building. The fire is believed to have killed 79 people.

The insulation producer said that safety testing had been undertaken on its RS5000 product as part of a ‘particular’ rainscreen cladding system. It added that, “…any changes to components of the cladding system or construction methods used need to be considered by the relevant building designer.”

The decision by Celotex follows an announcement by the Metropolitan Police that insulation samples collected from Grenfell Tower combusted quickly in tests. The authorities are examining aluminium composite tiles, the insulation behind it and how these tiles were fixed to the building as well as how they were installed. The aluminium composite tiles have also failed initial safety tests.

Norway: Saint-Gobain has entered into talks with the owners and shareholders of Glava to buy their shares, with the support of the company’s management. Prior to this negotiation, Saint-Gobain already owned 17% of the capital of Glava, which has manufactured products under an Isover license since 1960. The acquisition will be subject to the scrutiny of the relevant competition bodies.

Insulation producer Glava operates two mineral wool plants at Askim near Oslo, and at Stjørdal near Trondheim. It also has workshops producing expanded polystyrene and ceilings. Glava supplies a comprehensive range of insulating products and accessories to its customers. The company reported sales of over Euro140m in 2016.

France: Saint-Gobain has reported sales growth in all main territories in the first quarter of 2017, led by Asia and its emerging markets. Net sales for its Interior Solutions division rose by 6.2% year-on-year to Euro1.71bn in the first quarter of 2017 from Euro1.61bn in the same period of 2016. This was supported by rising prices in a ‘strong cost inflation environment.’ Overall the group’s net sales rose by 7.6% to Euro9.14bn. Notable geographical trends included a recovery in France and a continued poor market in Brazil.

“The first quarter saw robust trading. The good momentum in sales volumes observed in 2016 continued at the start of the year in all business sectors and regions. France benefited from the recovery in new-build activity, while other Western European countries delivered further growth. North America and emerging markets had a good start to the year. The group continued to pursue its priorities, focusing particularly on sales prices amid a more inflationary backdrop,” said Pierre-André de Chalendar, chairman and chief executive officer of Saint-Gobain.

Germany: Saint-Gobain has purchased the Augustdorf glass plant in North Rhine-Westphalian from Teuto-Glasveredelung. The unit produces thermal insulating glass products as well as sound-insulating glass and other glass products. The purchase is planned to be completed in March 2017, subject to approval by the government.

Brazil/Finland: Saint-Gobain Isover has obtained Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) for its products in Brazil and Finland. It has obtained five EPDs in Brazil where it has become the first insulation company in the country to obtain EPDs registered with Environdec. In Finland it has published three new verified EPDs through the Norwegian EPD platform EPD Norge.