Denmark: Danish insulations materials producer Rockwool International has agreed to acquire BASF Wall Systems, which is owned by the BASF Group. The group's German subsidiary Deutsche Rockwool will acquire all of the German external façade insulation producer including a factory in Marktredwitz and the HECK MultiTherm and Rajasil brands.

"This is a major leap forward for the Rockwool Group's strategy of offering customers more complete solutions consisting not only of insulation but also all the other necessary elements of a total facade system such as paint, render, etc. The BASF Wall Systems business is in this respect a great asset," said division managing director of the Rockwool Group's Europe division, Henrik Frank Nielsen. He added that purchase enhances the group's façade strategy and gives it a 'significant' foothold in the German External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems (ETICS) market.

Rockwool declined to comment on the value of the deal, saying that the deal was too small to have any impact on the buyer's valuation. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2013. BASF Wall Systems had a turnover of Euro68m in 2012 and it had 190 employees.

US: Owens Corning has met all seven of its self-declared environmental footprint goals, the company announced as it released its seventh Sustainability Report. The fibre-glass manufacturer is now reporting against its 2020 goals.

"Our accomplishments are representative of the progress we have made this past year, but we clearly recognise that we have much more to do on the path to becoming a more sustainable, and preferably, a net-positive company," said Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer Frank O'Brien-Bernini. "Across our company, these goals inspire innovation, creativity, external collaboration and broad engagement."

Progress towards the 2020 goals include the completion of several greenhouse gas reduction projects whilst preparing for others, including diesel-to-natural gas transportation fuel-switching, fuel cells, waste heat recovery, biomass, solar, and combined heat and power. The company has partnered with the World Resources Institute on its Aqueduct project to conduct a global water stress assessment of Owens Corning's global operations and completed several successful major water use reduction projects in stressed areas. It has released the first Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) for fibreglass insulation in North America. It has also highlighted sustainability expectations in its Supplier and Employee Code of Conducts.

UK: Building materials supplier SIG expects its profit for the first half of 2013 to fall year-on-year due to the extended winter, according to a trading update. In the first half of 2012 SIG reported a profit before tax of Euro41m. In the first half of 2013 it is likely to be Euro34 – 36m. The company plans to reduce costs to support full-year profit.

SIG reported that in mainland Europe sales per day fell by around 4% in constant currency. Sales in the UK more than halved, falling by around 1%, due to the end of the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) scheme and the slow start of the Green Deal.

"There are signs that market conditions are starting to improve in the UK, although construction activity in mainland Europe remains weak," said SIG in its report.

Saudi Arabia: Saudi International Insulation Manufacturing Company (SIIMCO), a joint venture equally owned by Alghanim Industries and Saint-Gobain, has signed an agreement with the Yanbu Royal Commission to lease a 65,000m² site at Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah, Saudi Arabia for 30 years. Construction of plant is expected to begin in August 2013 and it is planned to be operational by early 2014.

"Our joint venture investment at Yanbu will supply local and regional industrial and building areas with a reliable source of high quality insulation, which is both environmentally-friendly and will assist in improving the fire safety of buildings," said Omar Alghanim, chief executive of Alghanim Industries. The agreement follows a comprehensive review of the environmental impact and approval for plant layouts, building structure and utilities from the Yanbu local authorities.

SIIMCO has invested about Euro45m in the project. When completed it will have a production capacity of 60,000Mt/yr, building minderal wool, thermal and acoustical insulation materials. The plant is intended to serve markets in Saudi Arabia and other regional markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council region such as Egypt and Iraq.