Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: US insulation and safety supplies marketer Distribution International Inc (DI) has completed the acquisition of domestic industrial and commercial insulation manufacturer Pacific Insulation Company. Financial details have been kept confidential. Through the acquisition Texas-based DI will broaden its presence in the states of California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.

Belgium: Etex has announced that from 1 January 2015, a new leader will take the helm. Fons Peeters, the current CEO of Etex, will retire at the end of 2014 after 41 years with Etex, the last four of which he was CEO. Paul Van Oyen, currently the head of the Promat Division, will take over his role.

"On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to thank Fons Peeters for his immense dedication during his long career at Etex," said chairman of the board, Jean-Louis de Cartier de Marchienne. "His exceptional guidance proved to be an important added value for our company and ought to be an inspiration to all of us, since he helped to shape Etex as we know it today."

On 1 January 2015 Paul Van Oyen will take up the position. Before joining Etex, he worked for several years as a researcher and technologist. His career at Etex spans 24 years, during which period he gained both expertise and experience in different regions and different divisions of the company. Business development manager and head of the Eastern European business are some of his past roles. He has been developing Promat, Etex's high-performance insulation and passive fire protection division, since 2011. Paul Van Oyen has been appointed until the end of 2021 with the mission of pursuing further Etex's ambitious long-term strategy, which focuses on both internal and external growth.

"In order to trigger organic growth, Etex will maintain its capital expenditure programme with yearly investments of about Euro200m," said Jean-Louis de Cartier de Marchienne. "At the same time, the group will further reduce its debt, aiming at a debt ratio below two, which should open up future growth possibilities. In light of these ambitious plans, the board of directors and Etex's 17,500 employees wish Paul Van Oyen every success in guiding Etex on a path of continuous growth."

Vietnam: Dat Viet Ceramics Company has reported that despite a sluggish building materials industry, it has met its eight-month target thanks to its spearhead products. In the first eight months of 2014, Dat Viet Ceramics earned a revenue of US$6.56m, 5% higher than in the first eight months of 2013.

Dat Viet Ceramics' main products are Cotto bricks, brick cladding and fish scale tiles, with applications in sound and thermal insulation, among others. Its products are sold in 30 foreign markets. In 2014 Dat Viet Ceramics plans to expand its export markets into 40 countries and increase its revenue to US$3m.

Russia: TechnoNicol Corporation is expanding its insulation materials capacity at an existing plant in Yurga in the Kemerovo Region of southern Russia with investments totalling Euro18.6m. This includes the launch, which is due in 2015, of a new 200,000m³/yr XPS line. The line cost around Euro7.45m and will produce the company's full range of TechnoNicol XPS products. Its installation is set to meet growing demand for insulation products associated with major regional infrastructure projects, including the 29th Winter Universiade being held in Krasnoyarsk in 2019, as well as road construction and oil and gas industry infrastructure schemes.

In September 2014 TechnoNocil is due to complete another Euro9.4m investment at Yurga plant with the upgrade of its basalt wool insulation, leading to a 29% increase in output. Products from the plant will be targeted at Russian regions including western and eastern Siberia and the central Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous region, as well as eastern Kazakhstan, north-western China and Mongolia, according to TechNicol's CEO Vladimir Markov.

Ireland: Kingspan has announced that its profit rose by 24% year-on-year to Euro69m in the first half of 2014 as revenues rose by 4% to Euro890m. The company said that the improvement came due to rising sales of its key products, despite conditions remaining tough in the European construction sector.

"Kingspan has delivered strong growth in profitability, notwithstanding a tougher EU construction sector in the second quarter and a global economic recovery that remains weak. Our order book carried good momentum into the second half of the year, driven by continued growth in the demand for low energy buildings," said Gene Murtagh, Chief Executive of Kingspan.

Insulated panel sales were up by 9% and trading profit was up by 30%, reflecting what the company called 'continuing penetration gains, a positive business mix and some improvement in end markets in certain regions". Insulation board sales were up 1% and trading profit was up by 32%, with a good performance in the UK in particular.