Saudi Arabia: Arabian Fiberglass Insulation (AFICO), a joint-venture between Owens Corning and Zamil Industrial Investment, has inaugurated its new fibreglass manufacturing plant costing US$50m in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

The plant has an installed insulation production capacity of 24,000Mt/yr, increasing the company's total capacity to 37,000Mt/yr. The additional capacity is intended to assist local governing authorities in the Gulf Cooperation Countries with on-going efforts to implement more stringent building code requirements aimed at increased energy efficiency and fire safety standards.

AFICO has been a leading regional manufacturer of fibreglass insulation products since 1982, utilising the know-how and technical specifications of Owens Corning under license.

Russia: Danish insulation materials producer Rockwool is planning to invest around Euro121m in a new plant near Moscow in Russia. Nick Vince, Rockwool's top executive for Russia, says that the company has reached a limit for what it is worthwhile to invest in the existing factory in Moscow, according to Esmerk Danish News.

The need to invest in a new facility is attributed to the growing number of orders received by Rockwool in Russia amid a building boom and a political pressure to make Russia more energy-efficient.

Denmark: The Danish Maritime and Commercial Court has ruled that Danish insulation materials producer Rockwool International has violated marketing laws by describing insulation materials based on foam plastic 'in an unnecessarily frightening manner' in a newsletter. Trade organisation The Danish Plastics Federation submitted a complaint against Rockwool's description.

The court stated that Rockwool exaggerated the negative consequences of a rival's product. Rockwool has not been ordered to pay damages to the organisation as it has not been established that the rival had suffered financially from Rockwool's actions.

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.