Global Gypsum Newsletter

Issue: GGM25 / 14 April 2016

Headlines


US: Installed Building Products, an installer of insulation and complementary building products, has purchased Alpine Insulation based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin with five operating locations throughout the state. Alpine provides installation services to the residential and commercial sectors.

"Alpine represents a compelling opportunity for us to enhance our presence in Wisconsin through a complementary business with strong local brands, exceptional customer loyalty and a strong management team. This acquisition brings our total acquired revenue in 2016 to approximately US$44m, as we remain focused on selectively acquiring market-leading installers in highly attractive markets," said Jeff Edwards, chairman and chief executive officer of Installed Building Products.


Ukraine: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is to invest in a Euro75m programme to boost energy efficiency by launching the Ukraine Residential Energy Efficiency Financing Facility (IQ energy). IQ energy will be implemented through partner-banks UkrSibbank, OTP Bank and OTP Bank. It will also be supported by an extensive energy efficiency awareness campaign.

Eligible borrowers under the programme will be able to receive loans for a wide range of energy efficiency measures. These may include: insulation of walls, roofs and ground floors; installation of modern energy-efficient windows, gas and biomass boilers; heat supply system upgrades; installation of solar thermal systems and many others.

IQ energy is supported by grant funding of up to Euro15m from the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P), to which the European Union is the largest contributor. The funds will be used, depending on the type of investment, to reimburse up to 20% of loan amounts for individual borrowers and up to 35% of loan amounts for housing associations. IQ energy also benefits from technical assistance funding for programme implementation, provided by E5P and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

“Despite the substantial decrease in energy intensity over the last decade, the Ukrainian economy remains one of the least energy efficient among all the EBRD’s countries of operations and highly dependent on fuel imports. Being responsible for over 33% of Ukraine’s total energy consumption, the residential housing sector is the largest energy consumer in the country. In this respect, IQ energy will provide much-needed and timely funding but will also help change the energy consumption patterns of domestic households,” said Sevki Acuner, Director of EBRD Operations-Ukraine.

The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. As of mid-March 2016, the Bank had a total cumulative commitment of over Euro11bn through 363 projects in the country. The country holds one of the largest housing stocks in Europe with over 10 million buildings.


Denmark: Rockwool Group has become a founding member of a new cross-political network ‘Energy Solutions’ between business and members of the European Parliament. The new networking group is intended to build links between political groups and industry when discussing common policy options to meet the EU 2030 energy and climate ambitions as part of the European Energy Union.

Energy Solutions was started by Morten Helveg Petersen, Vice President to the European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE Committee) and a member of the European Parliament, together with founding members from four different political groups in the European Parliament and member states including Angelika Niebler, Miroslav Poche, Ian Duncan and Mr. Claude Turmes. Industry is represented by companies such as 3M, DONG Energy, Danfoss, GE, Grundfos, EDF, EoN, Microsoft, Panasonic, the Rockwool Group, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Velux and Vestas.


India: Jindal Mectec will inaugurate its new US$11m polyurethane foam (PUF) panel plant on 5 April 2016. The plant in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh will have a production capacity of 1.8Mm2. State chief minister Shivraj Singh will officially inaugurate the site.

"The new plant set up with a capital outlay of US$11m is built on a 10-acre plot. It is based on the latest European technology to manufacture insulated PUF panels for the refrigerated and industrial buildings segment, using an ozone friendly process," said Jindal Mectec Chairman Pawan Jindal.

The new plant is intended to meet the needs of industrial customers in central and western India. The plant will employ 150 people when fully operational.


UAE: Kingspan Kooltherm and Kingspan KoolDuct products have ben awarded Dubai Central Laboratory (DCL) Product Conformity certification. The insulation products were manufactured at Kingspan’s plant in Pembridge, UK. DCL Product Conformity ensures that manufactured products adhere to requirements set by the Dubai Municipality.

"Having DCL Product Conformity means that the the Kooltherm range and KoolDuct products, alongside the PalDuct portfolio, carry the maximum potential for specification within projects across Dubai," said Sarmad Fakhri, managing director of Kingspan Insulation to Construction Week Online.


China: China National Building Material Company's (CNBM) net profit has fallen by 83% year-on-year to US$157m in 2015. Its revenue fell by 17.8% to US$15.4bn. China's largest cement producer has blamed the loss of profits on a steep drop in cement sales due to a national slowdown in fixed-asset investments, infrastructure construction and real estate investments.

The state-owned building materials company also produces gypsum wallboard, insulation materials and ceiling systems. Revenue from the sale of lightweight building materials fell by 7.6% to US$1.09bn as the price of gypsum wallboard fell. However, revenue from mineral wool insulation sales and composite materials rose by 25.3% to US$501m due to increased sales of pipes, tanks and rotor blades.


Saudi Arabia: Building Component Solutions Co. (BCOMS) has earned the FM Approvals Class 4480 certificate of compliance from FM Approvals for the company’s metal-faced, combustible core, interior wall/ceiling and exterior wall assembly building panels, as well as the FM Approvals Class 4471 certification for BCOMS insulated roof panels.

FM Standard 4480 evaluates insulated wall or wall and roof/ceiling panels, interior finish materials or coatings, and exterior wall systems for their performance with regard to fire resistance. BCOMS also gained FM Standard 4471 approval for the performance of metal roof panels. FM Approvals is a provider of testing and certification to determine product compliance with industry standards for hazardous locations and product performance.

“We are extremely proud to receive the FM Approvals certification, which assures customers that our products have been objectively tested and conform to international standards,” said Nasri Majzoub, general manager of BCOMS.

BCOMS is a supplier of sandwich panels based in Saudi Arabia, producing more than 1.5Mm2/yr of sprayed polyisocyanurate (PIR) foam and mineral wool sandwich panels. Its export markets include the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.


China: Evonik has started building a plant to produce organically modified specialty silicones in Shanghai. The project is part of a global investment initiative that started with the construction of a first expanded production plant in Essen, Germany that became operational in late 2014. The new facility is being constructed at the Multi-User-Site (MUSC) in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, with completion planned for mid-2017. No exact figure for the high double-digit million Euro project was specified.

"We want to expand our specialty silicones production capacities in Asia to serve the rising demand with local production.” That is why we are enlarging our production capacities in this region," said Klaus Engel, the chairman of the Evonik Executive Board.


UK: Chris Lea, Finance Director, is to leave Superglass on a date still to be agreed, but no later than 30 June 2016. A search process for a new Finance Director is underway and in the interim period, Lea will continue to be employed on a full-time basis until his effective date of departure is confirmed. Lea joined the Stirling-based company in December 2013. He helped to institute the turnaround strategy and refinancing of the company in October 2014.


UK: SIG’s revenue has fallen by 1.4% year-on-year to Euro3.13bn in 2015 from Euro3.36bn in 2014. Its profit before tax fell by 11.2% to Euro113m from Euro128m. It blamed the fall in revenue on foreign currency effects.

“While making good progress on the Strategic Initiatives and infill acquisition programme, we were disappointed by the Group’s 2015 performance, having been adversely affected by weak trading conditions in Mainland Europe and the UK RMI market, as well as movements in foreign exchange,” said Stuart Mitchell, Chief Executive of SIG.

The building materials producer’s sales revenue for its insulation and energy management division fell by 3.1% to Euro1.49bn from Euro1.54bn. Sales by region increased overall in the UK and Ireland in 2015 due to the new build residential sector in the UK. In mainland Europe sales fell in 2015 notably in France, Germany, Austria and Poland.

In 2015 SIG acquired Multijoint SA in Switzerland and Ainsworth Group in the UK. Both companies are distributors of insulation and associated materials.


UK: Superglass has reported that its sales volumes have fallen by 2% in the half year to the end of February 2016. No exact figures were provided in the trading statement. Selling prices have increased by 4% year-on-year in the period due to a reduction in production capacity. Its expected unaudited earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) loss was approximately Euro0.65m, an improvement of Euro1.81m from the prior year.

The mineral wool producer also reported that its new blowing wool solution for new build housing, Superwhite 34, has gained ‘traction’ in the market. A number of national and regional contractors stock and install the British Board of Agrément certified product.


Germany/Japan: Covestro and Nanodax have signed an agreement on the development of new polycarbonate composites reinforced with mineral wool. Nanodax has developed a special process for the manufacture of these products that uses mineral wool as reinforcing filler for plastics. It has a small diameter and is more flexible than glass fibres.

“Our development cooperation is targeting diverse application areas for polycarbonates reinforced with mineral wool, and will open up new prospects for both companies. In particular, we are aiming at advantages in surface appearance and material processing. Cost reductions for customers are expected through an optimised injection moulding manufacturing process,” said Michael Schmidt, Head of Business Development for Polycarbonates Asia Pacific at Covestro.

The joint development work will be performed primarily at Covestro’s Polymer Research & Development Center (PRDC) in Shanghai, China.

Covestro, formerly Bayer MaterialScience, is a global supplier of polycarbonates and has expertise in their processing and application. Nanodax is a venture company with a portfolio including heating-style glass wool charging system technology, a special additive on the nano level, incombustible, ultra lightweight glass wool board with very good thermal insulation properties, and sound isolation.


Romania: Proinvest Group will complete a Euro10m sandwich panel plant in 2018. The first phase of the project, worth Euro3m, was completed in February 2016 with the commissioning of the first production line for sandwich panels with mineral wool core for roof and walls. The line has a capacity of 1Mm2/yr. The second phase of the project will be completed in 2018 with the commissioning of a new production line of sandwich panels, the company said in a press release.

The Romanian steel processing company is based in Pascani, northeastern Romania. It owns four plants and has more than 350 employees.


Denmark: Rockwool has reported that its profit fell by 19% year-on-year to Euro91m in 2015 from Euro113m in 2014. Its net sales rose slightly to Euro2.21bn from Euro2.18bn. The fall in profit was attributed to write-downs of Euro21.4m in India and China as well as severance costs of Euro15.4m in connection with restructuring measures. Rockwool expects sales revenue to continue to grow in 2016.

For its insulation business, Rockwool’s sales fell slightly to Euro1.67bn in 2015 from Euro1.68bn in 2014 due to a difficult market in Russia and further negative effects due to currency effects. Operating profit remained static at Euro99m, with the exclusion of the write-downs and severance costs.

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