Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Ireland: Kingspan Group has reported a particularly slow start to trading in 2013 in an interim management statement. In the release, issued ahead of its annual general meeting, the insulation and building supplies manufacturer said that group sales had risen by 10% to Euro520m for the first four months of 2013. It added that trading had 'picked-up' during March and April 2013.

Kingspan noted that market conditions were weak in UK and the Netherlands. Improvements have been seen in Germany following the group's acquisition of ThyssenKrupp Construction in 2012, and the Irish market saw improvement. The US has had a good start to 2013, Australasia has slowed from 2012 levels and the Middle East and Gulf Cooperation Council regions have remained buoyant.

In its outlook the company noted that a combination of growing order intake levels, improving acquisition benefits and a more diversified geography should help the company in the second half of 2013.

US: Roxul, a subsidiary of Denmark-based Rockwool International, has officially broken ground on its US$160m, 183,000m²/yr mineral wool plant in Byhalia, Mississippi. The facility, which was announced in June 2012, will create 150 jobs when it is completed in 2014. The location will be Roxul's first plant outside of Canada.

"Rockwool and Roxul are delighted to be locating and constructing our first United States plant and believe that this will enable us to meet the growing demand for our stone wool insulation product," said president of Roxul, Trent Ogilvie in a statement. He added that the company had analysed several possible sites in the south-eastern US before selecting Byhalia.

Germany: MPN Maschinenbau GmbH, specialised in pipe section production units for mineral wool, has announced that it has achieved a major breakthrough. Its MPN pipe sections units can now produce concentricly-wound square or rectangular pipe sections.

This ability opens up completely new possibilities for applications such as square or rectangular duct insulation and self-supporting prefabricated ducts. The products still achieve good insulation values and are highly rigid.

Spain: Spanish construction group Uralita has taken a Euro320m seven-year loan to expand its European insulation business. The group formalised the agreement with KKR Asset Management to gain financial stability and expand the business. The agreement will allow the development of the pan-European insulation business of its branch company URSA Insulation.

"Uralita considers that this transaction provides the group with long-term financial stability, shows the Company's growth potential and will facilitate continued growth in the next years," commented Javier Serratosa, Uralita's president.

US: Owens Corning has reported consolidated net sales of US$1.3bn in the first quarter of 2013, little change from the same period of 2012. However, the company reported net earnings of US$22m in the first quarter of 2013, compared to a net loss of US$46m in 2012.

"Insulation demonstrated strong price execution and is on track for full-year profitability and double-digit revenue growth in 2013," said chairman and chief executive Officer Mike Thaman. He added that the company remains reliant on

the pace of the US housing recovery and its impact on the margin performance of the Building Materials businesses for future performance.

For its outlook Owens Corning expects at least US$100m in adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) improvement over 2012 as a result of company actions, an improving US housing market and moderate global growth. It said that the insulation sector will continue to benefit from the growth in US residential new construction, higher asset utilisation rates and better pricing.