Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

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.

US: Knauf Insulation North America and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) have announced an investment of around US$35m at Knauf’s fibre glass inslation plant at Albion in Michigan. The upgrade is expected to convert and restart an idled production line, increasing production capacity by more than 30% and adding 34 new full-time jobs. It will use recycled bottle glass recovered through the state of Michigan’s Bottle Deposit Law as a raw material. The project is expected to be completed in late 2020.

“Keeping pace with the growing demand in the upper Midwest for quality loose-fill insulation products will be made possible through the expansion of our plant here in Albion,” said Kevin Keen, plant manager at Albion.

The Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) has approved a US$200,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant in support of the project. The MSF also approved a 100%, 15-year State Essential Services Act exemption valued at US$780,000.

Hungary: Bodrogi Bau is upgrading its polystyrene insulation plant in Szeged. It is spending Euro3m on building two new production lines, according to the MTI-Eco news agency. One of the new lines will be used to manufacture polystyrene insulation blocks. The project is supported by a Euro1.5m grant from the European Union (EU) and the local government. The company runs businesses in construction, building material retail, planning and real estate.

US: Johns Manville (JM) plans to build a new fibreglass insulation production line at its McPherson plant in Kansas. The new line will produce its Climate Pro blowing wool product. JM will begin construction on the expansion project later in 2019 pending various governmental approvals. It anticipates the completion in early 2021. When complete, JM will employ more than 330 people in McPherson.

Lithuania: Paroc plans to increase the production capacity of its stone wool plant in Vilnius to 115,000t/yr from 75,000t/yr. The subsidiary of US-based Owens Corning intends to make multiple minor upgrades to reach this goal, according to the Verslo Zinios newspaper. It hopes to achieve the increased production capacity by 2022 subject to market demand.

Belgium: Knauf Insulation plans to install 6000 photovoltaic panels at its Visé mineral wool plant. These will provide 1700MWhr/yr to the unit. The announcement was made at the opening of Knauf Insulation’s Experience Centre in Visé. The centre is intended to act as a knowledge base for best practice and sustainability.

US: Germany’s BASF plans to launch the second phase of its methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) unit at its Verbund plant in Geismar, Louisiana. The first phase of the upgrade was set to double the company’s MDI production capacity to nearly 0.6Mt/yr from 0.3Mt/yr. The new US$87m investment will continue this process. Construction is expected to start in late 2019 with completion scheduled for 2021.

“With the development of the American market, BASF needs this investment to support the growth of our existing customers,” said BASF Senior Vice President Stefan Doerr. “The Geismar site is ideally suited for this investment thanks to the existing infrastructure, competitive raw materials and favourable business support from state and local governments. This investment also demonstrates our strong commitment to our employees, our community and our presence in Louisiana.”

Russia: TechnoNicol plans to spend around Euro5m on an upgrade to its Chelyabinsk mineral wool plant. The majority of the investment will go towards refurbishing the unit’s production line, according to the AK&M Information Agency. The rest will be spent on installing additional cleaning and treatment systems. Once the upgrade is completed the plant will start producing rolled technical insulation materials based on rock wool. The unit will have a production capacity of 0.27Mm³/yr

US: Duna-USA has completed an expansion upgrade to its plant and headquarters in Baytown, Texas. The work, which began in late 2016, included the addition of a new manufacturing building, new office building, automated fabrication department and an additional production line. Work on the project finished in late December 2018.

“We’ve significantly increased production and fabrication capabilities, enhanced quality and expect to reduce lead times, while increasing production efficiency at the same time,” said Marta Brozzi, president of the DUNA Group

Duna-USA manufactures polyurethane and polyisocyanurate foams and chemicals for the insulation, aerospace, automotive, marine and construction industries. Italy’s Duna Group, comprised of Duna-Corradini, Duna-USA, and Duna-Emirates, has been manufacturing foams, chemicals and adhesives since 1957. It specialises in the research and development of polyurethane and epoxy systems, with manufacturing locations in the US, Europe and the UAE.

US: Germany’s Covestro plans to spend Euro1.5bn on building a new methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) plant at Baytown in Texas. The new plant will have a production capacity of 0.5Mt/yr and production is expected to start in 2024. The investment at the existing site in Baytown is the largest single investment in the history of the company. It will replace the 90,000t/yr MDI unit at the site.

“Demand for innovative MDI materials will continue to grow for the foreseeable future and likewise promises attractive capacity utilisation rates. We have already announced a significant increase in capital expenditures, now it’s time to put it into action”, said Markus Steilemann, chief executive officer (CEO) of Covestro. He added that the investment would strengthen the company’s ‘leading position’ in polyurethanes.

Covestro is also running a global investment programme in MDI production capacity, including plans to double its MDI production at Brunsbuettel, Germany to 0.4Mt/yr from 0.2Mt/yr by the second half of 2019. Other parts of this initiative include the continuation and expansion of plants in Tarragona in Spain, Caojing in China and Antwerp in Belgium.