Australia: Kingspan Insulation Australia’s Kooltherm K10 Soffit Board FM product has been accredited by FM Approvals. The closed cell phenolic insulation has been accredited with Class 4880 for ceiling applications.

To achieve the FM accreditation, Kingspan’s Kooltherm K10 product was installed in a ceiling for a full scale burn test (UBC 26-3) and set alight. During the test, temperatures, smoke levels and flame spread are all monitored. A burning wood crib was set alight in the corner of the room and left to burn for 15 minutes. During this time, in order to pass the test, the spread of the flame must not exceed the area of the installed K10 test panel.

FM Approvals offers third party testing and certification services including fire tests.

India: Wacker Metroark Chemicals has officially opened a 6000t/day hydrosilylation plant for manufacturing functional silicone fluids at Amtala near Kolkata. The plant cost Euro6m. The expansion is Wacker’s response to growing regional demand for specialty silicones for use in the textile, personal care, rigid and flexible polyurethane foam and agrochemical sectors. Polyurethane foams produce at the unit will be used to make insulation materials and other products.

“Our new hydrosilylation plant enables us to address promising new markets where we haven’t been represented in India and Southeast Asia until now – for example the market for silicone functional fluids with its many sales opportunities,” said Soumitra Mukherjee, Managing Director of Wacker Metroark Chemicals.

Wacker Metroark Chemicals is a joint venture between Germany’s Wacker and Metroark. The company is responsible for all marketing and sales activities in the India relating to Wacker silicones. Wacker owns a 51% share in the joint venture, which was set up in 1998.

Sweden: Kingspan to build a new plant near Jönköping to produce products in its Kooltherm phenolic insulation range. Work on the project is scheduled to start immediately and the unit is expected to be operational by the second half of 2019. The plant will initially employ around 20 people and this will grow to up to 80 people once the site is fully operational. The new plant is intended to take advantage of demand for Kooltherm products in Sweden, Denmark and other countries in Scandinavia and the Baltics.

“Kooltherm is the cornerstone of our growth strategy in all these markets, and having this new facility will help to meet the increasing demand for our products,” said Henk Bessie, Managing Director of Kingspan Insulation Continental Europe.

France: The National Union of Polyurethane producers (SNPU) says that the market is returning to normal following a shortage of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) in 2017. Prices of polyurethane insulation panels rose due to the lack of MDI, according to the Le Moniteur trade newspaper. The SNPU added that the market had stabilised since the start of 2018.