Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: The Reflective Insulation Manufacturers Association International (RIMA-I) has recognised the service of four directors who will retire from its board at the end of 2018. Peter Highfill of LL Flex, Mike Boulding of Pro-Echo Marketing, Veronica Ataya of Celplast Metallized Products and Lynn Walters of Kemper System America were each presented with plaques by president Doug Kinninger at the association’s bi-annual membership meeting that took place in Washington, DC in late October 2018.

France: Saint-Gobain’s Interior Solutions division’s net sales grew by 4.2% year-on-year to Euro5.33bn in the first nine months of 2018 from Euro5.11bn in the same period in 2017. The group said that division performance in the third quarter of 2018 was driven by pricing. Western Europe progressed slightly despite lower volumes in the UK. In North America, the acceleration in price increases in the quarter reduced sales volumes. Asia and emerging countries reported good growth. Overall, the group’s sales rose by 1.8% to Euro31.1bn from Euro30.6bn.

“Saint-Gobain continues along its growth trajectory despite a tough comparison basis in the third quarter of 2017. Our focus on increasing prices – critical in an inflationary environment – continues to pay off. The industrial issues that had weighed on our profitability in the first half of the year are largely behind us,” said Pierre-André de Chalendar, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Saint-Gobain.

US: Weaker market conditions have reduced Owens Corning’s expected growth in the third quarter of 2018. The building materials company’s net sales rose by 11% year-on-year to US$5.33bn in the first nine months of 2018 from US$4.78bn in the same period in 2017. Its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) increased by 1.5% to US$596m from US$587m. For its insulation business the company said that it had reduced its expected EBIT growth for the year due to weaker market expectations across different regions and products.

“Weaker than expected market conditions across all three businesses, which impacted third-quarter results, are expected to continue during the fourth-quarter. As a result, we have lowered our 2018 outlook and now expect adjusted EBIT to be in line with last year,” said chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Mike Thaman.

Belgium: Huntsman Polyurethanes has launched its DaltoPIR XHFR product for composite panels. The polyisocyanurate (PIR) insulation product was introduced at a panels and profile conference in Greece.

The product uses DaltoPIR insulation technology to offer a different viscosity build up in rising foam. The company says that this enables more stable and more consistent processing, which in turn can help panel producers achieve better panel planarity and quicker line speed. The resulting foam has very low friability, which Huntsman says contributes to the long-term properties of the panels.

US: Owens Corning has presented Premier Tech with an award for Innovative Supplier of the Year – 2018 at its Annual Global Supplier Recognition Day in Toledo, Ohio that took place in late September 2018. The award recognises the engineering team’s contribution to developing high-performance, scalable automated packaging equipment that will allow Owens Corning to boost performance and meet growing workforce challenges.

Premier Tech’s Industrial Equipment Group is a supplier of industrial scalable packaging solutions and it says it is the largest robotic integrator in North America’s packaging industry. It is supported by a team of over 1700 people in 17 countries that serve clients in around 60 countries.