Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Germany: Dennert Poraver has developed an insulating render formulation by using Poraver expanded glass aerogel granules from Cabot in 0.01 - 4mm sizes. The expanded glass granules producer says that aerogel thermal insulation renders are ultra-light, water-repellent, open to diffusion and achieve high thermal insulation even with small layer thicknesses.

The new product is targeted for the interior and exterior renovation of historic buildings. Due to the thin application layer, the producer says that the characteristics of the building remain largely unchanged. The building material can also be used for rendering masonry in new buildings. The insulating renders are also classified as ‘non-combustible, smoke-development free, non dripping.’ This means that they can also be used for facades, where previously only mineral wool-based insulating materials could be used due to increased fire protection requirements.

Poraver and Aerogel were combined for the development of a mineral thermal insulation render in order to combine the advantages of both lightweight aggregates. Cabot Aerogel supplied aerogel in the form of 0.01 - 4mm granules for the insulation render. Poraver was added to the render as a mineral aggregate with a grain size of 1 - 2mm. Various proportions of aerogel and Poraver were tested. After the tests, it could be determined that the compressive strength and processing properties had improved ‘significantly’ with the addition of Poraver. The most economical and practicable formulation has a thermal conductivity of 0.037W/mK with a dry bulk density of 199 kg/m³.

Belgium: Recticel’s sales from its insulation division have rallied following the resumption on methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) supplies after a shortage in 2017 and poor weather in the first quarter of 2018. Its sales rose by 2.7% year-on-year to Euro129m in the first half of 2018 from Euro133m in the same period in 2017. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBTIDA) increased by 60.6% to Euro14.2m fro Euro22.8m. It attributed the growth in profitability to price rises and efficiency gains. The company also said that the construction of a new plant in Finland, dedicated to the supply of the Scandinavian and Baltics markets, is on schedule to start up in late 2018.

Denmark: Rockwool has announced its first half results for 2018. Sales for the half reached Euro1.27bn, 16.9% more in local currency terms. In the second quarter, sales were up by 17.3% to Euro667m. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the first half reached Euro161m, an increase of 47% year-on-year. EBIT in the second quarter was Euro91m, an increase of 43% year-on-year.

Investments in the first half of 2018 reached Euro89m, an increase of Euro26m compared to the first half of 2017, primarily due to ongoing capacity expansions in Poland and the United States.

The outlook for 2018 from the company is positive. It expects net sales to grow by 13-15% during 2018 in local currency terms, including around 2-3% from its acquisition of Flumroc.

Commenting on the Group’s performance, CEO Jens Birgersson said, “Our half-year results show solid improvement on both sales and profitability, underlining strengthened performance towards customers and growing market demand for our non-combustible insulation and other stone wool products. With sales up in all regions, Rockwool’s 11,000 highly dedicated and committed employees are the driving force behind these positive results.”

UK: Knauf Insulation has strengthened its strategic partnership with Siemens Energy. The next phase of the collaboration will focus on enhancing efficiency at Knauf Insulation’s glass mineral wool plant in Cwmbran, South Wales. This follows previous work started in 2015 at the insulation company’s St Helens plant. Across the two plants, the partnership is expected to reduce CO₂ emissions by more than 5000t/yr.

“We look forward to partnering with Knauf Insulation to deliver a comprehensive energy management programme that will use intelligent technologies not only to monitor where consumption is taking place and to what extent, but also implement a significant reduction in energy use across the company’s UK manufacturing plant asset base,” said Steve Martin, Head of Strategic Transformation at Siemens UK.

Denmark: Based on preliminary reporting, Rockwool Group is increasing its expected growth forecast for net sales for 2018 from 7-10% in local currencies to 13-15% in local currencies.

For the first half, the main preliminary highlights were a sales increase to Euro1.27bn, a 17% increase in local currency terms. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) increased by 47% to Euro161m. Rockwool Group will publish its full first half results on 24 August 2018.

Rockwool says that market conditions for the remainder of 2018 look promising across larger European stonewool markets, including Germany, Poland, France and the UK, as well as in North America.