Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

China: Evonik has started building a plant to produce organically modified specialty silicones in Shanghai. The project is part of a global investment initiative that started with the construction of a first expanded production plant in Essen, Germany that became operational in late 2014. The new facility is being constructed at the Multi-User-Site (MUSC) in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, with completion planned for mid-2017. No exact figure for the high double-digit million Euro project was specified.

"We want to expand our specialty silicones production capacities in Asia to serve the rising demand with local production.” That is why we are enlarging our production capacities in this region," said Klaus Engel, the chairman of the Evonik Executive Board.

UK: Chris Lea, Finance Director, is to leave Superglass on a date still to be agreed, but no later than 30 June 2016. A search process for a new Finance Director is underway and in the interim period, Lea will continue to be employed on a full-time basis until his effective date of departure is confirmed. Lea joined the Stirling-based company in December 2013. He helped to institute the turnaround strategy and refinancing of the company in October 2014.

UK: Superglass has reported that its sales volumes have fallen by 2% in the half year to the end of February 2016. No exact figures were provided in the trading statement. Selling prices have increased by 4% year-on-year in the period due to a reduction in production capacity. Its expected unaudited earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) loss was approximately Euro0.65m, an improvement of Euro1.81m from the prior year.

The mineral wool producer also reported that its new blowing wool solution for new build housing, Superwhite 34, has gained ‘traction’ in the market. A number of national and regional contractors stock and install the British Board of Agrément certified product.

UK: SIG’s revenue has fallen by 1.4% year-on-year to Euro3.13bn in 2015 from Euro3.36bn in 2014. Its profit before tax fell by 11.2% to Euro113m from Euro128m. It blamed the fall in revenue on foreign currency effects.

“While making good progress on the Strategic Initiatives and infill acquisition programme, we were disappointed by the Group’s 2015 performance, having been adversely affected by weak trading conditions in Mainland Europe and the UK RMI market, as well as movements in foreign exchange,” said Stuart Mitchell, Chief Executive of SIG.

The building materials producer’s sales revenue for its insulation and energy management division fell by 3.1% to Euro1.49bn from Euro1.54bn. Sales by region increased overall in the UK and Ireland in 2015 due to the new build residential sector in the UK. In mainland Europe sales fell in 2015 notably in France, Germany, Austria and Poland.

In 2015 SIG acquired Multijoint SA in Switzerland and Ainsworth Group in the UK. Both companies are distributors of insulation and associated materials.

Germany/Japan: Covestro and Nanodax have signed an agreement on the development of new polycarbonate composites reinforced with mineral wool. Nanodax has developed a special process for the manufacture of these products that uses mineral wool as reinforcing filler for plastics. It has a small diameter and is more flexible than glass fibres.

“Our development cooperation is targeting diverse application areas for polycarbonates reinforced with mineral wool, and will open up new prospects for both companies. In particular, we are aiming at advantages in surface appearance and material processing. Cost reductions for customers are expected through an optimised injection moulding manufacturing process,” said Michael Schmidt, Head of Business Development for Polycarbonates Asia Pacific at Covestro.

The joint development work will be performed primarily at Covestro’s Polymer Research & Development Center (PRDC) in Shanghai, China.

Covestro, formerly Bayer MaterialScience, is a global supplier of polycarbonates and has expertise in their processing and application. Nanodax is a venture company with a portfolio including heating-style glass wool charging system technology, a special additive on the nano level, incombustible, ultra lightweight glass wool board with very good thermal insulation properties, and sound isolation.