Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: Johns Manville (JM), part of Berkshire Hathaway, has named Mary Rhinehart as chairman of the company. Rhinehart was appointed as president and CEO in November 2012.

Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, selected Rhinehart for this additional role due to her diligent leadership of JM. “With more than three decades of comprehensive experience at JM, Mary Rhinehart has proven not only her ability to succeed at every level, but also her commitment to the business and passion for JM’s employees and customers. Mary is the right choice for chairman of JM,” said Buffett.

Rhinehart has held a variety of roles during her 35-year career, including general managership of several Johns Manville business units. Before being named CEO, she was CFO, providing her breadth of experience in all financial operations of the company. Rhinehart’s wide range of responsibilities have also encompassed global business management and strategic business development. 

“I am proud to assume the role of chairman of Johns Manville and am grateful for the confidence Berkshire Hathaway has placed in me,” said Rhinehart. “Moving forward, JM will continue to win by delivering powerful experiences to our customers and employees, experiences that will create lasting relationships, sustainable competitive advantage and profitable growth.”

Turkey: Saint-Gobain has finalised a deal to buy Atlas Zimpara, a longstanding partner company that makes sandpaper, sanding belts, discs and other abrasive materials. The company operates from a plant in Gebze, an industrial area close to Istanbul. Its products are supplied to the construction, automotive repair and industrial supplies.

Saint-Gobain said that the deal will strengthen its presence in Turkey, where it recently began operating a new organic grinding wheel plant at Eskiehir, 300km south-east of Istanbul. It added that the deal allows it to serve customers from a local industrial base and ‘marks an important stage in the Group's development in fast-growing countries.’

UAE: Rockwool International has won a new order to supply insulation to Abu Dhabi's Takreer refinery project. The refinery will have a 30,000 barrels/day capacity for crude oil and will produce 40,000t/yr of carbon black. The refinery is due for completion in December 2015.

Russia: TechnoNicol plans to invest US$62.2m in the construction of two plants to produce insulation products in the Karaganda region of Russia. The company intends to invest US$48m in the construction of a 80,000t/yr capacity basalt insulation plant and US$13.1m in the construction of a 300,000m²/yr capacity extruded polystyrene insulation plant.

The two projects are to be implemented in 2014 - 2016 in the Saryarka special economic zone in Karaganda, creating a total of 285 jobs. The relevant memorandum has been signed by the governor of Karaganda Region Nurmukhambet Abdibekov and TechnoNicol's president Sergei Kolesnikov.

Vietnam: Vietnam will completely abolish the use of more than 500t of hydrochlorofluorocarbon HCFC-141b, a chemical that damages the ozone layer, in the production of thermal insulation foam by the end of 2014.

The move is part of the country’s efforts to reduce the use of HCFC substances by 10% from 1 January 2015 onwards, according to Nguyen Van Tue, director of the Department of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change under the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment.

Between now and 2019, Vietnam plans to cut the use of HCFC substances, mainly HCFC-22, by 900t from 3600t at present. The chemical is mainly used in refrigeration facilities. Van Tue added that that Vietnam had already successfully eliminated the import and use of CFCs, halons and CTCs, which are also ozone-depleting substances, between 1995 and 2010. As part of the project, Vietnam will choose alternative technologies and substances that are considered safe for the ozone layer and the climate, as set out by the Montreal Protocol on ODS.

To assist Vietnam’s efforts, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) worked with the department to design the project. UNIDO’s Representative in Vietnam, Patrick Gilabert, said that as part of the project UNIDO and equipment suppliers would deliver hydrocarbon technology to businesses that use refrigeration facilities.