Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

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.

Germany: Saint-Gobain has acquired HKO, a manufacturer of very high temperature thermal insulation and fire protection solutions made from various types of glass fibres to cover temperature resistances between 600 and 1000°C. The French building materials company said that the purchase was in line with its strategy of developing technological niches. It will join the ADFORS business within the High-Performance Materials Activity.

Founded in the 1970s, HKO employs 225 people and has two plants in Germany with sales affiliates in France, USA and China. It reported sales of Euro39m in 2017. With mostly customised solutions. It serves the construction, industrial and automotive markets.

Germany: BASF’s Performance Products division’s sales fell by 5% year-on-year to Euro7.94bn in the first half of 2018 from Euro8.4bn in the same period in 2017. Its earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) fell by 41% to Euro879m from Euro920m. The company blamed the falling sales and earnings on negative currency effects as well as reduced sales volumes from its Nutrition & Health division. The chemical producer manufactures polyurethane-based insulation foams as part of its Performance Products division. Overall, BASF’s sales and its EBIT grew in the reporting period.

Malaysia: Knauf Insulation plans to build a Euro120m glass mineral wool plant at Johor Bahru. The new unit will have a production capacity of 75,000t/yr. It is scheduled to be completed in early 2020 and will create 180 jobs in Malaysia as well as a further 60 new positions across the region.

“We have seen record sales due to increasing energy costs across Asia and more stringent energy-saving building regulations in countries such as Australia, Japan and Korea,” said Stuart Dunbar, Regional General Manager for the Asia Pacific Region at Knauf Insulation.

The new plant will use up to 80% post-consumer recycled glass in the manufacturing process and feature Knauf patented high compression packaging. All products will be made using Knauf Insulation’s Ecose binder.

The company also intends to use Malaysia’s shipping links to develop new distribution partnerships in South-East Asian countries and strengthen its presence in the markets of Japan, Australia, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore.

US: Owens Corning’s insulation business sales rose by 53% year-on-year to US$1.28bn in the first half of 2018 from US$838m in the same period in 2017. Overall, the company’s net sales rose by 14% to US$3.52bn from US$3.08bn. However, its earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) fell by 6.4% to US$360m from US$337m.

“Owens Corning grew revenue by 14% on the contribution of Insulation acquisitions and successful pricing actions in both Roofing and Insulation. The company made significant commercial progress in the first-half of the year, partially offset by operational headwinds,” said chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Mike Thaman. He added that the company expects continued commercial execution and improved operational performance with ‘strong’ financial results in 2018 and into 2019.