Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Australia: France-based Saint-Gobain has submitted a non-binding indicative offer of US$5.44bn for building materials producer and land banking entity CSR. CSR’s businesses include insulation producer Bradford, fibre cement systems producer Cemintel, wallboard producer Gyprock, autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) block producer Hebel and roofing producer Monier. Together, CSR’s building materials units accounted for 72% of its sales in 2023.

Belgium: Recticel’s insulation business has used price rises to compensate for a steep rise in the price of raw chemical input materials. The division’s sales grew by 57% year-on-year to Euro391m in 2021 from Euro249m in 2020. Its adjusted earnings before taxation, interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBTIDA) more than doubled to Euro62.4m from Euro27.5m. It said that its Insulation and Engineered Foams businesses performed well in a volatile environment. Chemical raw materials supply reportedly remain tight and prices are showing little signs of stabilisation. Transportation and labour costs are increasing at an “unprecedented” rate. However it added that energy cost inflation has a minor impact given the “very low energy intensity of our business.” Overall the group’s sales and adjusted EBITDA rose by 67.4% to Euro1.03bn and by 134% to Euro89.7m.

“We are happy with the very positive sales and profitability development in 2021, a year marked by deep changes in our company. Changes which were planned and announced, such as the acquisition and integration of FoamPartner and the divestment of the Bedding activities. Changes which came as a consequence of the unsolicited takeover bid by Greiner, such as the divestment of our newly created Engineered Foams business segment,” said chief executive officer Olivier Chapelle.

Ireland/US: Ireland-based Kingspan has pulled out of bidding for Firestone Building Products. Bloomberg News has reported that both Kingspan and Standard Industries have dropped out of the auction. The roofing and building materials company was expected to reach a value of Euro2bn. The deadline for submitting offers is 28 December 2020.

Earlier in December 2020, Kingspan’s chief executive officer (CEO) Gene Murtagh apologised for ‘process shortcomings’ that have been highlighted by the ongoing Grenfell Tower Inquiry in the UK.

Turkmenistan: The Turkmen Industry Ministry has extended a tender for construction of a thermal insulation plant in the Turkmenbashi district of the Balkan region. Bids will be accepted until 7 March 2017, according to the Trend News Agency.