Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

France: Saint-Gobain’s net income has risen by 36% year-on-year to Euro1.3bn in 2015 from Euro953m in 2014. Its sales revenue rose by 3.3% to 39.6bn from 3.4bn. However, its overall sales volumes remained static with only 0.1% growth. Growth in the company’s Flat Glass and Interior Solutions divisions, including wallboard and insulation, held up sales despite sharp declines in sales in France.

“Saint-Gobain delivered improved earnings in 2015 in a sharply contrasted economic climate. The improvement was dampened by continued weak trading in France, hurt in particular by the sharp contraction in our Pipe division in the second half of the year, despite the first signs of an upturn in construction indicators. The group completed a key stage in the reorganisation of its business portfolio, with the sale of Verallia on very favourable terms, and continues to pursue its plan to acquire a controlling interest in Sika after obtaining all antitrust approvals prior to closing the deal,” said Pierre-André de Chalendar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Saint-Gobain.

The group’s Interior Solutions division reported a 7.1% rise in sales revenue to Euro6.49bn from Euro6.06bn. Reduced volumes and prices in the French market slowed growth in Western Europe, although this impact eased in the fourth quarter of 2015. Trading in North America was dented by a slight dip in prices in the second half and by the decline in the Canadian market. Asia and emerging countries continued to deliver growth.

UK: Celotex has launched a new range of flat roofing insulation solutions. It comprises three products: Celotex Crown-Bond, Crown-Up and Crown-Fix. The products were developed with contractors, installers and distributors, following an 18-month testing period.

“The new product range from Celotex perfectly demonstrates the commitment that British Rigid Urethane Foam Manufacturer’s Association (BRUFMA) members have to improving product quality and driving up standards for insulation in the UK,” said Mel Price, Assistant Chief Executive of BRUFMA.

BRUFMA represents most of the major companies in the Polyisocyanurate (PIR) and polyurethane (PUR) industry in the UK, including manufacturers of finished products, suppliers of the various raw materials and associated services.

Russia: Saint-Gobain has obtained the Federal Antimonopoly Service's permission to purchase 74.9% of the voting shares in the heat insulation materials producer Isoroc, based in Tambov Oblast. When the sale completes the French company will own 100% of Isoroc.

Brazil: Saint-Gobain has acquired a 70% stake in Brazil-based British Indústria e Comércio Ltd for an undisclosed amount. Saint-Gobain said that the deal with the Brazilian group, which manufactures and sells non-woven abrasives for industrial applications, would strengthen its position in the industry and add new customers to its portfolio.

US: Officials of CertainTeed Corp, part of Saint-Gobain, have announced that the company will renovate its plant in Kansas City, Kansas, creating more than 70 new jobs over the next three years.

CertainTeed said that it has begun renovating its plant to begin production of fibreglass insulation products during the second quarter of 2015. Greg Silvestri, president of CertainTeed Insulation, said that the company is investing more than US$30m to re-engineer the plant's furnace and restart related production lines to give it greater flexibility to support its growing business needs.

Turkey: Saint-Gobain has finalised a deal to buy Atlas Zimpara, a longstanding partner company that makes sandpaper, sanding belts, discs and other abrasive materials. The company operates from a plant in Gebze, an industrial area close to Istanbul. Its products are supplied to the construction, automotive repair and industrial supplies.

Saint-Gobain said that the deal will strengthen its presence in Turkey, where it recently began operating a new organic grinding wheel plant at Eskiehir, 300km south-east of Istanbul. It added that the deal allows it to serve customers from a local industrial base and ‘marks an important stage in the Group's development in fast-growing countries.’

France: Saint-Gobain has named Dirk de Meulder as director of Isover in France and CEO of Eurocoustic France. Dirk de Meulder, aged 54, started his career at the glass materials business of Saint-Gobain in Belgium. In 2009, he joined Isover as director general in Sweden and Denmark.

France: Saint-Gobain and EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) have signed an agreement whereby EBRD will increase its participation in Saint-Gobain Construction Products Rus LLC from its current stake of 11% to 33%.

The EBRD equity injection will contribute to financing Saint-Gobain Construction Products' planned investments in Russia for the next three years, including projects in the gypsum, industrial mortars and insulation activities in several regions.

The investments will reflect the Environmental and Social Action Plan that was agreed with EBRD, thereby reaffirming the commitment of Saint-Gobain Group to the highest standards in environmental performance, corporate governance and business conduct.

This operation will contribute to the acceleration of Saint-Gobain's development in Russia, in alignment with the Group's strategy of strengthening its position in fast growing markets.

UK: Energy savings of 63% have been achieved following the installation of multiple Saint-Gobain systems in a world-first retrofit research project.

Saint-Gobain worked with the Energy House at Salford University, Greater Manchester, UK to prove that whole-house, fabric first retrofitting of homes can deliver significantly reduced energy costs, lower CO₂ emissions and remove 50% of air leakage.

The Energy House at Salford University is a typical 1919 terraced house that has been reconstructed in a fully environmentally controllable chamber, in which climatic conditions can be maintained, varied, repeated and patterns monitored. The type of building used in the study represents 21% of UK housing stock and is classed as a hard-to-treat property due to its poor energy efficiency derived from solid wall construction.

The Energy House at Salford University included Saint-Gobain systems from British Gypsum, Glassolutions, Isover and Weber to bring high levels of thermal efficiency. The approach of the project was to measure the whole-house performance post-installation using off-the-shelf Saint-Gobain systems and standard installation techniques, making the results repeatable across the UK's hard-to-treat housing stock.

Saudi Arabia: Saudi International Insulation Manufacturing Company (SIIMCO), a joint venture equally owned by Alghanim Industries and Saint-Gobain, has signed an agreement with the Yanbu Royal Commission to lease a 65,000m² site at Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah, Saudi Arabia for 30 years. Construction of plant is expected to begin in August 2013 and it is planned to be operational by early 2014.

"Our joint venture investment at Yanbu will supply local and regional industrial and building areas with a reliable source of high quality insulation, which is both environmentally-friendly and will assist in improving the fire safety of buildings," said Omar Alghanim, chief executive of Alghanim Industries. The agreement follows a comprehensive review of the environmental impact and approval for plant layouts, building structure and utilities from the Yanbu local authorities.

SIIMCO has invested about Euro45m in the project. When completed it will have a production capacity of 60,000Mt/yr, building minderal wool, thermal and acoustical insulation materials. The plant is intended to serve markets in Saudi Arabia and other regional markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council region such as Egypt and Iraq.