Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

UK: SIG’s sales rose by 0.3% on a like-for-like basis, the building materials distributor has said in a trading statement. Sales rose by 11% year-on-year to Euro3.4bn in 2016 but they were mainly driven by foreign exchange rates and acquisitions. In the UK & Ireland like-for-like sales increased by 1.1%, with SIG Distribution up by 1.2% and SIG Exteriors down by 1.5%. In mainland Europe life-for-like sales declined by 0.5%, with France and Germany down by 2.0% and 1.3% respectively.

"2016 was a disappointing year for SIG. While the competitive environment, particularly in the UK, was challenging, our transformational change programme, although taking the group in the right strategic direction, distracted us somewhat from our customers,” said chief executive Mel Ewell. He added that the company is planning to focus on customers, place added emphasis on sales growth and reduce its leverage in 2017.

SIG will announce its full year results for 2016 on 14 March 2017.

Saudi Arabia: SABIC plans to launch a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) dedicated grade of foam HP0824NDF in 2017. The chemical manufacturer says that the new product’s advantages include high viscosity, giving good head pressure for uniform and thicker foam thickness, relatively higher resin density for better mechanical strength, and good compression stress as well as resilience. Production benefits include using various foam production processes such as physical foam extrusion, the chemical cross-linking process, as well as the bun process, resulting in lightweight foams. SABIC add that the new grade also offers benefits for thermal insulation.

SABIC launched LDPE HP2024JDF and HP2024NDF dedicated foam grades for Middle East, African, and Asian markets in 2016 for physical extrusion foam. All three grades were developed at the company’s Foam Innovation Centre.

Finland: Paroc Group is planning to shut down the operations of its stone wool plant in Oulu. The decision has been blamed on overcapacity of Finnish production without a similar increase in consumer demand. The plan also includes transferring and centralising support functions to other Paroc factories at other locations. Approximately 70 workers at the site will be affected by the decision and negotiations are on going.

“Starting the cooperation negotiations is very unfortunate. However, the utilisation rate of Finnish stone wool factories’ current capacity is too low to ensure competitive operations in Finland. The factory located in Oulu is an old one, and, in addition to the already high cost structure, continuing its operations would require significant investments in the near future,” said Kari Lehtinen, chief executive officer of Paroc Group.

US: Armacell has acquired the insulation business of Nomaco, a manufacturer of extruded polyethylene (PE) insulation foam products. The acquisition of the Yukon, Oklahoma-based manufacturing facility will strengthen Armacell’s domestic production capacity and regional distribution network. No purchase price has been disclosed.

“The expansion of our manufacturing footprint into Oklahoma increases our distribution power and service levels in the Midwest and the West. Our customers will benefit both from a broader product portfolio as well as from stronger technical support,” said Patrick Mathieu, president and chief executive officer of Armacell International.

US: Installed Building Products (IBP) has closed its acquisition of Alpha Insulation and Waterproofing. Alpha Insulation and Waterproofing, based in Atlanta in Georgia, will continue to operate under its existing brand name through an expanding network of nine branches located in Georgia, Florida, Texas, Tennessee and North Carolina. Alpha's focus on commercial insulation, waterproofing, fire stopping and fireproofing will add to IBP’s revenue mix and its commercial construction platform.

"We are excited about closing the Alpha acquisition and are focused on successfully integrating Alpha's operations over the coming months, which we expect will be immediately accretive to earnings," said Jeff Edwards, IBP's chairman and chief executive officer.