Romania: Knauf Insulation has completed its acquisition of Gecsat. Business World Magazine News has reported that Gecsat operates a glass wool insulation plant in Tarnaveni, Mures County. In 2020, it recorded revenues of Euro6.6m. Knauf Insulation’s Romanian portfolio includes glass wool, basalt mineral wool and wood fibreboard operations.

Knauf Group management committee member and Insulation Europe, Middle East and Asia chief executive officer Dominique Bossan said "The acquisition of the Romanian plant will support Knauf Insulation's growth goals and provide additional capacity to meet the growing demand for our insulation solutions in the region.”

US: Owens Corning’s net sales from its insulation division rose by 23% year-on-year to US$859m in the first quarter of 2022 from US$700m in the same period in 2021. Its earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) grew by 15% to US$129m from US$82m. It attributed this to higher selling prices and sales volumes despite inflation and higher transport costs. Overall company net sales and adjusted EBIT increased by 23% to US$2.35bn and by 48% to US$417m respectively.

The light building materials producer also said that it made the decision to end its operations in Russia in March 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It halted all future investments in the country in April 2022. In 2021 its net sales in Russia represented approximately 1% of the company’s consolidated net sales. The company said it is “working to expedite its exit, while remaining committed to the safety and security of its employees in the country.” Owens Corning’s insulation subsidiary Paroc operates in Russia. The group also runs a composite materials plant at Gous in Russia.

Belgium: The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) has certified Recticel Insulation’s Recticel Eurothane GP, Eurothane Eurodeck and Eurowall Cavity polyisocyanurate (PIR) and polyurethane (PUR) as meeting good forest management standards. This ensures customers that the products’ multilayer paper facings are sustainably sourced.

Head of technical management Dirk Vermeulen said “With the PEFC label on our insulation products, we provide proof of our commitment to sustainability to architects, turnkey companies, project developers and contractors, as well as end-users.”

Belgium: Recticel recorded consolidated sales of Euro295m in the first quarter of 2022, up by 43% year-on-year from Euro206m in the first quarter of 2021. The group attributed the growth partly to a 28% year-on-year increase in its insulation sales in the quarter. It ended the quarter with net financial debt of Euro130m, down by 12% year-on-year from Euro148m. Recticel said that the quarter brought progress towards closing its divestment of its engineered foams business line to US-based Carpenter in mid-2022.

The group said that, despite geopolitical instability and inflationary pressure, its business continues to develop well in 2022. It continues to work on accelerated growth plans in order to double its insulation sales over a period ending in 2025.

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