Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Bahrain: Turkey’s ThermoBor has met with government officials to discuss setting up a regional office. The hub will serve Bahrain and the wider Gulf market, according to the Bahrain News Agency.

Turkey: Austria’s Austrotherm has opened a 400,000m³/yr expanded polystyrene (EPS) plant in Ankara. It is its third insulation plant in the country. The project cost Euro2m. The site has created 14 jobs. The company entered the Turkish market in 2008 and built its second plant near Izmir in 2013.

Hungary: Belgium’s Ravago and Turkeyʼs Beşler Tekstil plant to build a Euro20.5m insulation plant at Alsózsolca. The plant will have a production capacity of 36,000t/yr, according to the Budapest Business Journal. The government is aiding the project with a contribution of just under Euro4m. Once operational the plant is expected to export third-thirds of its output internationally. The unit will also create 90 jobs.

Ravago is a Belgium plastics manufacturer with operations in over 55 countries. Beşler Tekstil is a Turkish textiles producer.

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.

Turkey/Luxembourg: Armacell International SA, a Luxembourg-based provider of insulation foams for the equipment insulation market, has acquired OneFlex, a Turkey-based manufacturer of insulation materials for building technology. OneFlex generated a revenue of US$11.2m in 2014. The acquisition will allow Armacell to strengthen its production capabilities and position in Turkey and to expand its footprint across the regions of Middle East, Africa and South-eastern Europe.

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.’

Turkey: ODE has won the 2013 prize in the 'Large-Scale Enterprise' category in the Fourth Competitive Power Prize, which was organised by the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TÜSİAD), the Federation of Industrial Associations (SEDEFED) and the Sabancı University.

ODE was founded in 1985 and is the largest 100% domestic insulation manufacturer in Turkey. ODE is the youngest producing company to win this award to date. Previous winners of the Competitive Power Prize include İÇDAŞ, Bilim İlaç and BRİSA. ODE was judged on growth, export, added value, human resources, financial resources, innovation design, technology, leadership and sustainable strategy.

Kemal Direk, ODE's deputy general manager of Financial Affairs, received the prize from the president of the Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation, Süleyman Onatça, on behalf of ODE. "This esteemed prize, which we have received in our 29th anniversary year, has been a source of pride and joy for us," said Direk. "We would like to present our endless thanks to the venerable jury members, who awarded us with this prize. ODE has always looked out for the development and progress of its employees, its sector and its country. It has adopted innovations without hesitation. These esteemed awards have exalted us and given us strength and courage for our future objectives."

ODE has grown by 60% in the last two years and has targeted at least 25%/yr growth until 2018. The company currently operates at almost 100% capacity from its four manufacturing plants and is preparing to open a new plant in Eskişehir within three years. ODE has accelerated its activities abroad in recent years and currently exports to 68 markets on all five continents. It plans to increase exports to 75 markets by the end of 2014.

Turkey: Austrian insulation producer Austrotherm has said that its second insulation plant in Turkey will go into operation at the beginning of April 2013. Austrotherm has invested Euro4m in the project.

The new plant is located in Turgutlu, near Izmir and will be focused on the production of grey thermally insulated curtail panels from expanded polystyrene and rigid foams. The new plant will employ 40 workers.

Austrotherm saw its sales rise by 8% to Euro245m in 2012. Austrotherm's foreign sales grew stronger than those on the domestic Austrian market in 2012, according to its CEO Peter Schmid.