Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Romania: Denmark’s Rockwool has started construction work on a new stone wool plant at Ploiesti in Prahova county. Production at the Euro50m unit is scheduled to start in 2019, according to the Ziarul Financiar newspaper. Local construction company CON-A has been placed in charge of the project.

US: The Reflective Insulation Manufacturers Association International (RIMA) is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Don Roy of Roy & Son’s, Pat Mascari of Infra and Robert Dittemore of Superior first met in Los Angeles in 1978 to discuss forming a trade association for their industry. An invitation to attend the DOE/FTC hearings on insulation products to represent reflective insulation in Washington DC followed in 1979 with RIMA member Raymond Urias of AIM also joining.

Later, RIMA became an internal association in 2007 with a meeting held in Paris, France. This led to the formation of the International Reflective Insulation Manufacturers Conference (I-RIM Conference).

RIMA-I members represent the association and the industry ASTM Standards, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), ICC and IBC participating in code development and changes and participating in meetings and code hearings throughout the year.

New Zealand/US: US company Havelock Wool has secured sheep’s wool supplies from Pāmu Farms of New Zealand and the New Zealand Merino Company for its insulation products. The suppliers will provide strong (coarse) wool farmed on Pāmu properties throughout the country to the insulation producer. Havelock Wool targets its products at high-end residential installations with a focus on sustainability and health benefits of its products.

US: Huntsman’s polyurethane business has contributed to its growing revenue and earnings so far in 2018. Its revenue grew by 18% year-on-year to US$4.7bn in the first half of 2018 from US$3.99bn in the same period in 2017. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 47% to US$820m from US$559m.

“Our polyurethanes business continues its growth in variants and systems and enjoys the back drop of good supply and demand fundamentals, foreseeable for the long term,” said Peter R Huntsman, chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO). Prices and sales volumes rose year-on-year in the second quarter of 2018.

In late July 2018 the chemicals producer announced that its Polyurethane division was setting up a new subsidiary in Chile based in Santiago. The new company, Huntsman (Chile), will operate from a local warehouse and a customer service centre. It joins existing operations in Cartagena and Bogotá in Colombia, São Paulo and Taboão da Serra in Brazil and Buenos Aires in Argentina.

US: Owens Corning has appointed Brian Chambers as its president and chief operating officer (COO). Mike Thaman, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) said that the creation of a COO and Chambers’ appointment would create, “additional senior management capacity to accelerate our progress on growing the company.”

Chambers, aged 51 years, has been president of Owens Corning’s Roofing business since 2014. Prior to his current position, he was vice president and general manager for Roofing, a role he held since 2013. Chambers returned to Owens Corning in April 2011 as vice president and managing director, Engineered Solutions in the Composites business. He had spent almost four years prior as president of Saint-Gobain’s Distribution business in North America after Owens Corning’s divestiture of its Siding Solutions business where he served as president of the Siding and Building Material Distribution businesses. Over the course of his career, Chambers has held a number of senior commercial and operational roles across a range of businesses and geographies.

Gunner Smith will succeed Chambers as President, Roofing. Smith has been with Owens Corning since 2008 and has served in his current role, as Vice President of Sales, Roofing, since 2013. He will report to Chambers and will serve as a member of the company’s executive committee.