Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Kazakhstan: Russia-based TechnoNICOL has begun building its upcoming US$124m Karaganda insulation plant. Interfax Kazakhstan Newswire has reported that the plant will export 30% of its insulation to Russia. Additionally, it will export some insulation to China, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Uzbekistan.

Kazakhstan: TechnoNICOL has inaugurated its new US$20m, Almaty extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation plant in the Kairat Industrial Zone. Once fully operational, the plant will have a capacity of 400,000m³/yr, AK&M News has reported. Exports to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will follow the launch of the plant’s products on the Kazakh market later in 2024.

Uzbekistan: Russia-based TechnoNICOL to invest US$13.1m in the construction of a new extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation plant in Angren. AK&M News has reported that the plant will have a capacity of 300,000m²/yr. It will produce TechnoNICOL’s range of 20 – 120mm-thick XPS insulation. Construction will commence in 2024 and the plant will employ 50 people when operational.

Uzbekistan: Sanoat Energetika Guruhi plans to build an 80,000t/yr low-density polyethylene (PE) plant in Karakul District, Bukhara. The plant will produce low-density PE for use in insulation production, among other applications. Business World Magazine has reported that the plant is part of a 1.34Mt/yr hydrocarbons production complex, called the Methanol to Olefin Gas-Chemical Complex (MTOGCC). The MTOGCC is scheduled for commissioning in 2025, and will operate until 2050. US-based Air Products will be engaged in gas processing at the complex.

Uzbekistan: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has issued a US$5m loan to Ecoclimat Group for the launch of a new subsidiary, Angren Insulation. The company will use the loan to build a 32,000t/yr glasswool plant in Tashkent. The plant will use recycled glass as an input and reduce the group’s CO₂ emissions by 85,000t/yr. The insulation producer said that it will help it to meet the growing local demand for mineral-based insulation.

Uzbekistan: AFKA Group has ordered a basalt wool production line from Italy’s STM Technologies. The 6Mm³/yr unit will be based at the former Tashkent Mechanical Plant site. More than 150 jobs will be created when the new plant opens. No value for the order has been disclosed.

Uzbekistan: Russia’s TechnoNicol is ‘seriously considering’ building a new 1.3Mm³/yr stone wool insulation plant In Uzbekistan. Vasily Tkachev, the head of the Mineral Insulation division of TechnoNicol, said that building a plant in the country would be ‘geographically justified,’ according to the Trend News Agency. He added that ‘significant’ changes in the local regulatory framework were expected regarding the requirements for energy efficiency of buildings during new construction and reconstruction. A final decision on the project will be made following a full assessment of the market and its potential sales regions.

Uzbekistan: Production of insulation and soft roofing materials rose by 7.8% year-on-year in the first seven months of 2013. The percentage rise was slightly behind the increase for all building materials, the production of which rose by 9.9% year-on-year.

Uzbekistan: The Uzbek Metallurgical Plant, based in Bekabad in eastern Uzbekistan, has announced that it will start production of insulation materials by 2014.

The company has started a feasibility study of a US$12m project, which will allow the production of thermal insulating materials, such as mineral wool, mats, and plates. The estimated capacity of the plant will be 10,000t/yr. One of the basalt deposits in the Tashkent region will serve as a raw material base for the new production facility.

The production of thermal insulation is included in a list of investment projects approved by Uzbek President Islam Karimov. According to a representative of the plant, a tender for the purchase of the necessary equipment will be announced in the second half of 2012. The project will be financed through the plant's own funds worth US$3m and loans from Uzbek banks worth US$9m.