Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

North America: Saint-Gobain has signed a 100MW solar power purchase agreement (PPA), called Danish Fields, with TotalEnergies. The Danish Fields PPA will supply Saint-Gobain North America with solar energy for 15 years, commencing in 2024. Saint-Gobain says that it expects the PPA to eliminate 90,000t/yr of CO₂ emissions across its operations. This is the group’s third deal of its kind.

Saint-Gobain North America CEO Mark Rayfield said “With this agreement, Saint-Gobain North America will further reduce its CO₂ emissions, demonstrating how fast the manufacturing industry can transform when long term solutions are at hand. This renewable energy project is a new milestone on the way to meeting Saint-Gobain’s commitment to reduce Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions by 33% by 2030 compared to 2017, and to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.”

Ireland/US: Kingspan says that it recently opened informal talks about combining its business in North America with building products company Carlisle Companies. However, discussions came to an end when Carlisle Companies ‘rebuffed’ Kingspan, Bloomberg News has reported. Carlisle Companies’ products include its Hunter brand polyisocyanurate (PIR) insulation panel.

Kingspan said "Kingspan has admired Carlisle for many years and, recognising the clear strategic fit, had recent and informal discussions on a potential transaction.” It added "At present, there is no active engagement."

US: Owens Corning has appointed Nicolas Del Monaco as the president of its insulation business with effect from 15 September 2023. He will succeed Todd Fister in the post, who is taking over the role of chief financial officer. Del Monaco will report directly to chair and chief executive officer Brian Chambers and serve as a member of the company’s executive committee.

Del Monaco joined Owens Corning in 2000 and currently serves as senior vice president and managing director of the company’s European operations, leading a team of 4400 employees spanning both the Insulation and Composites businesses. Prior to that, he served as vice president of non-wovens and glass reinforcements Europe. During his tenure with the company, he has also held a variety of finance, operations and general management roles.

US: Todd Fister will take over as chief financial officer (CFO) at Owens Corning from 15 September 2023. Fister brings 27 years’ experience at Fortune 500 companies spanning the global building materials, consumer products and packaging industries. This includes working as president of Owens Corning’s Insulation business since 2019, where he leads a team of 8000 people. His work in the role has included developing the producer’s enterprise strategy. Fister also sits on the Owens Corning executive committee. He holds an economics degree from Miami University, and also obtained a PhD from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Owens Corning chair and CEO Brian Chambers said "I've worked closely with Todd over the past several years, and am excited to welcome him to the CFO role. Todd brings a broad set of financial, operational and strategic experiences and capabilities to the new role, along with invaluable customer perspective, that will be critical as we continue to accelerate our growth and expand the earnings power of our company."

Fister will replace Ken Parks, who is stepping down to pursue another professional opportunity. Thanking Parks for his contributions while CFO, Chambers said “Under Ken's leadership, we have strengthened the capability of our global finance team and consistently delivered our financial targets."

US: Owens Corning is planning to close its fibreglass insulation plant at Eloy in Arizona due to poor residential housing market conditions. The Casa Grande Dispatch newspaper reports that the company’s decision was announced at a local council meeting in late July 2023. The Eloy plant was in operation for 15 years before being previously closed in 2010. However, in late 2021 the company announced plans to restart production at the unit. The closure will entail 36 job losses.

US: Sales revenue from Huntsman’s polyurethane division fell by 27% year-on-year to US$2.00bn in the first half of 2023 from US$2.74bn in the same period in 2022. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 66% to US$154m from US$453m. For the second quarter of 2023 the company attributed falling revenue to lower sales volumes, decreased average methyl diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) prices and negative currency exchange effects. This trend was partially offset by higher equity earnings from a minority-owned joint venture in China and cost savings achieved from a cost saving plan.

Overall the group’s sales and earnings fell in the first half of 2023 with declines in sales and earnings reported across all main divisions. However, the company noted that it saw, “demand fundamentals in many of our core markets stabilise” in the second quarter of 2023.
Huntsman produces a range of chemicals including polyisocyanurate (PIR) and polyurethane (PUR) building insulation products.

US: Installed Building Products’ revenue grew by 7% year-on-year to US$1.35bn in the first half of 2023 from US$1.26bn in the same period in 2022. Its net income rose by 18% to US$111m from US$93.7m. Jeff Edwards, chair and chief executive officer, said that company “focused on prioritising profitability over volume.” He added “Despite softer volume trends in our single-family end market, the effort of our employees in the field across end markets translated into record second-quarter revenue, net income and earnings per share.”

US: Owens Corning’s sales of insulation grew by 2% year-on-year to US$1.82bn in the first half of 2023 from US$1.79bn in the same period in 2022. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 9.5% to US$427m from US$390m. The group noted that insulation sales fell year-on-year in the second quarter of 2023 due to lower volumes, although this was partially offset by price rises and changes to its product mix. Overall, the company’s composites sales fell in the first half of 2023, leading to a slight drop in sales to US$4.89bn and a decline of 4% in adjusted EBITDA to US$1.15bn.

US: CertainTeed has completed an upgrade at its Athens glasswool insulation plant in Georgia. Equipment used in the production of loose-fill insulation has been updated, including modifications to the unit’s loose-fill recycling machine. In addition, the plant has installed several new pieces of equipment, including a new baler, water sub-metering system, three air compressors, efficiency pumps on cooling towers and a cooling wind fan. The modifications are expected to save over 7300MWh/yr of energy and 76Ml/yr of water, and reduce landfill waste by over 5000t/yr.

Jay Bachmann, Vice President and General Manager of CertainTeed Interior Products Group, said “The work of our insulation plant in Athens is the perfect example of what sustainability looks like for industrial manufacturing operations, where a series of small changes brought together can make a huge impact. I want to thank the entire Athens team for their success.”

The subsidiary of Saint-Gobain North America previously announced in late 2021 that it was spending US$30m towards building a new insulation production line at the Athens plant. At the time it said that increased production was scheduled to start in late 2023.

Belgium: Recticel has launched a new range of polyurethane insulation board products that contain 25% bio-circular raw materials. The new ‘Impact’ range reduces CO₂ emissions by an average of 43% compared to a standard board while offering equivalent insulation performance. These new products are an important element of Recticel's proactive approach to reaching net zero emissions by 2050, as committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

The Belgium-based insulation producer also completed its divestment of its Engineered Foams division in mid-June 2023. The bulk of the business was sold to US-based Carpenter Co for an enterprise value of around Euro454m with two UK-based units sold to GIL Investments, as part of the competition clearance provided by the UK Competition & Markets Authority (CMA). Following the divestment of its Engineered Foams division, Recticel has become solely an insulation manufacturer.