Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

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.

UK: Knauf Insulation has strengthened its strategic partnership with Siemens Energy. The next phase of the collaboration will focus on enhancing efficiency at Knauf Insulation’s glass mineral wool plant in Cwmbran, South Wales. This follows previous work started in 2015 at the insulation company’s St Helens plant. Across the two plants, the partnership is expected to reduce CO₂ emissions by more than 5000t/yr.

“We look forward to partnering with Knauf Insulation to deliver a comprehensive energy management programme that will use intelligent technologies not only to monitor where consumption is taking place and to what extent, but also implement a significant reduction in energy use across the company’s UK manufacturing plant asset base,” said Steve Martin, Head of Strategic Transformation at Siemens UK.

Germany: Va-Q-Tec has nearly completed the expansion of its Kölleda plant in Thuringia. A new second plant at its Kölleda site has increased the production area by 3000m2 and created additional space for storage, laboratories and offices. Production capacity at the site will be tripled following the upgrade. Va-Q-Tec manufactures vacuum isolation panels at Kölleda for use in pharmalogistics, cooling units and in the construction industry for thermal isolation or cold chain logistics. The expansion is expected to be completed in June 2018.

Poland: Paroc Group says that its Euro60m expansion project at its Trzemeszno plant is proceeding to plan. A new 70,000t/yr stone wool production line is being built at the site. The upgrade is expected to be completed in 2019. The upgrade is part of Paroc’s plan to support its growth strategy for Central and Western Europe.