Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Belgium: Dominique Bossan has stepped into the roles of head of Knauf Insulation and member of Knauf Insulation Europe/Middle East/Africa’s management committee. Bossan first joined Knauf Insulation in 2003 and has since held roles as Eastern Europe regional managing director and as a member of Knauf Gypsum Western Europe, South America and Israel’s management. He now returns to Knauf Insulation’s headquarters in Visé, Belgium, to take over leadership from Jean-Claude Carlin, who has held the position since 2016.

Bossan said “Jean-Claude, the management team and everyone at Knauf Insulation should be exceptionally proud of what has been achieved in recent years. I am now looking forward to maximising this success to create exciting new opportunities in the future — a future defined by our leadership and innovation For a Better World.”

General partner Alexander Knauf said “The Knauf Group management is delighted to welcome Dominique to this exciting role. He is an exceptional leader who knows our business extremely well. We are confident he will build on the outstanding results Jean-Claude, and the company, has achieved in recent years.”

Africa: UAE-based BCI Holding plans to expand its polyurethane (PUR) plant in Egypt. Arab Finance News has reported that the company also intends to establish to new PU plants, in Algeria and Nigeria. For the realisation of these plans, it will partly rely on a US$30.0m financing package from the International Finance Corporation. The PU supplier expects the moves to generate 80 new direct jobs. It said its strategy aims to combat poverty and create jobs by supporting the growth of the private sector in the Middle East and Africa. It added that the new plants will also help strengthen regional integration and technology transfer, and the development of regional supply chains.

New Zealand: The New Zealand government has announced the lifting of Level 4 lockdown outside of Auckland. Radio New Zealand News has reported that this will enable construction to resume. Inside Auckland, insulation is among four ‘critical products’ that the government has allowed to resume production.

The Building Industry Federation (BIF) said that the government had listened to suppliers' concerns.

UAE: Pearl Polyurethane Systems plans to double its polyurethane (PUR) production capacity over the five years up to September 2026.

CEO Martin Kruczinna said “The newly structured entity of Pearl Polyurethane, combined with the reconfirmed long-term relationship with Covestro, enables us to create win-win solutions for our existing and new customers.” He added “While we plan to further increase our market share in selected Middle Eastern and North African countries, the real leverage will come from moving beyond those borders and launching innovative new products. Our advantageous location in Dubai as a regional trading hub puts several attractive markets within easy reach. We expect our unique value proposition of being able to reliably deliver high quality service and products at competitive prices should be valued in new international markets. We intend to capitalise on these growth opportunities and position Pearl as the preferred PUR solutions partner for customers in a growing number of industries, not only in the Middle East but also internationally.”

New Zealand: Fletcher Building has suspended the production of its Pink Batts glass wool insulation at its plant in Canterbury region due to Covid-19 lockdown measures. RNZ News has reported that New Zealand entered Covid-19 lockdown level 4 in September 2021. As a result of the closure, Pink Batts insulation is in ‘extremely limited’ supply, including in the Auckland market.