Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

UAE: Fujairah Building Industries’ sales rose by 14% year-on-year to US$40.4m in the first nine months of 2024, from US$35.4m in the corresponding period of 2023. As a result, the producer grew its net profit by 39%, from US$3.31m to US$4.61m.

UAE: A researcher team at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) has developed a novel bio-polyester insulation based on polyhydroxybutyrate derived from date pits. The material has a thermal conductivity of below 0.1W/mK, with 80MPa compressive strength and 6 – 14MPa tensile strength. EurekAlert News has reported that the materials is also below 6% water absorbant.

Team leaders Amal Mlhem and Thomas Teklebrhan said that the bio-polyester insulation can lower the CO₂ emissions of commercial insulation and offer a biodegradable alternative.

UAE: Pearl Polyurethane has newly appointed Oliver Bruns, Michael Friede and Wilhelm Lamberts to its board. Chemical Industry Digest News has reported that the new board members’ experience collectively spans various sectors and industries, bringing broad and deep expertise to the polyurethane (PUR) producer’s strategic guidance and oversight as it expands internationally and into new verticals.

Bruns has over 10 years’ PUR industry experience with Germany-based Bayer AG and Covestro, formerly known as Bayer MaterialScience. This included a role as managing director of Bayer’s Czech Republic-based PUR system house for Eastern Europe. Bruns currently also holds a full-time CEO position at Neveon, a leading global integrated foam group that supplies PUR flexible and composite foams for a wide range of applications.

Friede started his career at Bayer AG in 2001 and held various senior executive roles at Bayer MaterialScience and then Covestro, including global head of coatings, adhesives and specialities. He then moved to Netherlands-based AkzoNobel, where he worked as chief commercial officer (CCO) of performance coatings.

Lamberts’ career also spans multiple executive roles at Bayer AG and Covestro, most recently as the former’s strategy project manager and senior vice president, head of elastometers and the latter’s innovation project manager.

Africa: UAE-based BCI Holding plans to expand its polyurethane (PUR) plant in Egypt. Arab Finance News has reported that the company also intends to establish to new PU plants, in Algeria and Nigeria. For the realisation of these plans, it will partly rely on a US$30.0m financing package from the International Finance Corporation. The PU supplier expects the moves to generate 80 new direct jobs. It said its strategy aims to combat poverty and create jobs by supporting the growth of the private sector in the Middle East and Africa. It added that the new plants will also help strengthen regional integration and technology transfer, and the development of regional supply chains.

UAE: Pearl Polyurethane Systems plans to double its polyurethane (PUR) production capacity over the five years up to September 2026.

CEO Martin Kruczinna said “The newly structured entity of Pearl Polyurethane, combined with the reconfirmed long-term relationship with Covestro, enables us to create win-win solutions for our existing and new customers.” He added “While we plan to further increase our market share in selected Middle Eastern and North African countries, the real leverage will come from moving beyond those borders and launching innovative new products. Our advantageous location in Dubai as a regional trading hub puts several attractive markets within easy reach. We expect our unique value proposition of being able to reliably deliver high quality service and products at competitive prices should be valued in new international markets. We intend to capitalise on these growth opportunities and position Pearl as the preferred PUR solutions partner for customers in a growing number of industries, not only in the Middle East but also internationally.”

UAE: Huntsman Corporation has opened its new polyurethanes systems house at the Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone (JAFZA) in Dubai. The unit comprises a production area with manufacturing equipment plus blenders, reactors, filling stations, control room, offices and quality control laboratories. It will manufacture polyurethane foams for construction, insulation, appliances, bedding and furniture applications. It will also produce systems for the footwear industry; and prepolymers for coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers applications.

The site will also serve as the regional base for Huntsman's Demilec spray polyurethane foam (SPF) business. The new systems house is equipped with a dedicated spray foam application and training centre and will provide customers in the region with local technical and training assistance, fully supported by the global Demilec organisation.

"This investment is the latest step in the expansion of our worldwide systems house capabilities, which underpin our downstream growth strategy. Constructing the new systems house at JAFZA brings us closer to our customers and gives us everything we need to expand our business in the Middle East and North Africa, including manufacturing competitiveness, infrastructure links and speed of response," said Tony Hankins, President of Huntsman's Polyurethanes division.

Huntsman's other downstream businesses in the Middle East include Huntsman EMA, a systems house in Turkey, and Huntsman Arab Polyols Company in Saudi Arabia, a joint venture with the BCI Group of Companies, in which Huntsman is the majority shareholder.

UAE: Kingspan Insulation has started producing its Thermaroof TR22 brand insulation product at its plant in Dubai, according to the Emirates News Agency. The product has a fibre-free polyisocyanurate (PIR) insulation core. It is used for flat roofing cover boards to overlay new and existing flat roofs waterproofed with single-ply and cold liquid applied waterproofing. The plant also produces other products in the flat roof insulation line.

UAE: Researchers at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) have developed a composite thermal insulation material made from a blend of unsaturated polyester liquid with date pits powder. The material is intended to improve upon the low mechanical properties that conventional insulation materials such as polyurethane, polystyrene and mineral wool have. As such it can be produced in different forms such as a sheets, boards and blocks.

“In the UAE, there is an on-going search for alternative means and materials that preserve and minimise the loss of energy in buildings,” said Basim Abu-Jdayil, Professor in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, UAEU, who leads the project.

UAE: Michel Francis, chief architect at DEC consultants, has recommended that ‘intensive’ inspections, including checking that insulation is properly installed, could help to prevent the spread of fire in high-rise buildings in Dubai. He pointed out that a fire could propagate rapidly if there were gaps between fire-resistant mineral–based insulation. Francis’ comments at the Windows, Doors and Facades Forum in Dubai were covered by the National newspaper.

"An inspector must look for these holes, see how the mineral wool is installed, the fixtures used, check for any intricate gaps between the intersection of slabs. An expert auditor would look to see if there are any loopholes. These locations and intersections, if well treated, will prevent the jumping of fire from one floor to the other and the whole facade catching fire. Fire containment would be much easier," said Francis.

New provisions in the local Fire and Life Safety code are due to be released later in 2016 requiring owners to renew a no-objection certificate annually after inspections to ensure all modifications are fire-safe. The changes in the regulations follow a string of fires in high-rise buildings in the city in the last few years.

UAE: Unigulf Group has helped the Arabian Fiberglass Insulation Company (AFICO) to gain certification from the Dubai Civil Defence (DCD) for its complete range of fibreglass products. The certification now offers AFICO access for its products to a wider range of contractors, according to TradeArabia.

"We worked closely with AFICO towards acquiring the DCD certificate for its entire range of insulation and acoustic products," said Prakash Chablani, the managing director of Unigulf Group. "At a time when the DCD is tightening the fire safety guidelines in the Emirate, the approval reinforces the need to conform with rules and regulations.”

AFICO is a joint venture with US-based Owens Corning and a member of Gulf Insulation Group under Zamil Industrial Company. Established in 1981 with operations in Dammam, Saudi Arabia the company is now one of the single largest manufacturers of fibreglass insulation in the region.

The DCD certification process includes a range of quality control tests and inspections of production plants as well as consistent testing of products. It also includes technical product tests conducted by third-party laboratories and inspections to test factory safety procedures and to evaluate the knowledge and skills of the technicians involved in the manufacturing process.