Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Russia: TechnoNICOL has installed a new glass furnace and polymerisation chamber at its Serpukhov glass wool plant in Moscow Oblast. AK&M News has reported that that the upgrade will expand the plant’s glass wool capacity to just under 2Mm³/yr and enable it to produce a total of 300 different types of insulation. TechnoNICOL is investing US$18m in the project, which uses equipment from Russian suppliers and is intended to reduce the sanctioned nation’s reliance on imports.

India: Rockwool India has commenced construction of a new US$65.5m mineral wool insulation plant in Cheyyar, Tamil Nadu. The Hindu newspaper has reported that the plant will produce 50,000t/yr of stone wool insulation from its commissioning in early 2026. The plant will employ 150 people and will overtake the Dahej, Gujarat, plant as Rockwool India’s largest. The subsidiary of Denmark-based Rockwool opened the 40,000t/yr Dahej plant in 2011.

Managing director Darryl Mathews said “Our non-combustible products are witnessing increasing demand in India. Additionally, we will introduce dual-density technology aimed at residential renovation and construction projects.”

Group chair Thomas Kähler said “I am pleased to announce our second investment in India. This expansion is just the beginning, as we anticipate further developments in response to the growing demand for our products.”

Russia: TechnoNICOL has announced plans for a third stone wool insulation plant in the eastern Krai of Khabarovsk. The plant will have a production capacity of 400,000m³/yr of stone wool, and will produce thermal and acoustic insulation and technical insulation, including stone wool substrates for use in hydroponic plant cultivation. Together with an on-going upgrade to an existing stone wool insulation plant at the site, the project will cost US$37.6m, AK&M News has reported. Pre-design construction, land leasing and procurement of ‘key equipment’ for the new plant are currently underway, with commissioning scheduled for late 2026. TechnoNICOL then expects to complete the upgrade to the existing plant in 2027.

India: Saint-Gobain India plans to double its production capacities of glass and stone wool insulation as part of a new investment phase, targeting revenues of US$4.3bn across its businesses by 2032. The Hindu newspaper has reported that this represents growth by a factor of three from 2023 levels. Saint-Gobain India noted the presence of ‘medium-sized companies in the insulation space’ as suitable targets for acquisitions. The investment phase will include total capex of US$719 – 959m from 2021 to 2025. The company had invested US$1.58bn up to the end of 2023.

Asia-Pacific and India regional CEO B Santhanam said "We have made huge investments in India, and quite a lot of them were in new plants."

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.

Egypt: Smith Troy for Chemical Industries says that it expects to commission a new US$5m insulation line at Amreya, Alexandria, in June 2024. Business News Africa has reported that trial production will then run for two to three months. Smith Troy for Chemical Industries' CEO Walid Gamal el-Din said that the plant will export 80% of its production, which will contribute US$10m in sales in its first year of operations.

Russia/Kazakhstan: TechnoNICOL plans to invest US$109m in capital expenditure (CAPEX) in Russia and Kazakhstan throughout 2024. The sum is triple TechnoNICOL’s 2023 CAPEX, according to the company. US$27.3m will go towards two projects in Kazakhstan: the completion of the upcoming Almaty insulation plant, scheduled for September 2024, and the start of construction of the upcoming Karaganda insulation plant. The remainder of the sum will fund other projects, including the construction of the upcoming Rostov insulation plant and an expansion to the Chelyabinsk insulation plant, both in Russia.

Ireland: Kingspan’s sales declined by 3% to Euro8.09bn in 2023 from Euro8.34bn in 2022. Its insulation sales fell by 8% and its insulated panels sales by 9%. Meanwhile, roofing and waterproofing sales grew to reach Euro500m. The group’s profit after tax rose by 6% to Euro654m from Euro616m. It invested Euro248m in new acquisitions throughout the year. Kingspan plans to invest Euro750m up to 2028 in order to capture 15% of the flat roofing market in North America.

CEO Gene Murtagh "Beyond insulation, each of our climate-focussed business units across roofing and waterproofing, light, air and water and data and flooring are scaling at pace with every potential for each to exceed Euro1bn divisional revenue over the coming years.” Murtagh added “Given our robust balance sheet, strong development pipeline, strong structural demand for energy efficiency and the ever increasing and obvious impacts of climate change, we expect 2024 to be a year of continuing strategic and operational progress for Kingspan.”

France: Soprema plans to begin building a new polyurethane (PU) insulation plant at Sausheim, near Mulhouse, in mid-late 2024. The producer says that it will invest Euro50m and enter production at the upcoming plant in 2026. When operational, the Sausheim insulation plant will complement Soprema’s existing Saint-Julien-du-Sault and Nîmes plants, and serve Grand Est, Austrian, Germany and Switzerland. The plant will generate 80 direct jobs and a similar number again of indirect jobs.