UK: Only 18% of UK housing stock conforms with standards set in 2002, according to a study by utilities provider EDF and property data company Sprift. This represents a rise from 7.5% in the previous study conducted in May 2022. 41% of homes fail to meet standards set later than 1976, down from 60% in May 2022. The average ‘insulation age’ of UK housing is 41 years old, 11% younger than the age of 46 years old recorded in the previous study ..read more

Germany: Kingspan acquired the Ronneburg stone wool insulation plant in Thuringia from Karl Bachl on 4 April 2024. Karl Bachl says that the divestment will help it to concentrate more on its core business. Besides insulation, the company also supplies construction services, prefabricated buildings and stone and precast concrete elements. Ireland-based Kingspan plans to use the acquisition to grow its production capacity and ‘complete’ its insulation product offering ..read more

Hungary: The government plans to avail citizens of €280m in subsidy for residential refurbishments that increase efficiency, beginning in June 2024. The initiative aims to help renovate 20,000 homes, installing new insulation, boilers, doors and window frames. Local press has reported that that homeowners who contribute €2800 may receive up to €16,800. The goal of the scheme is to reduce gas consumption in line with EU policy. It has backing from the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility, and is expected to generate €650m in additional orders for Hungarian building materials producers ..read more

US: Owens Corning has published its 2023 Sustainability Report, highlighting its advances in sustainability in the past year. These included a 59% share of revenues from reduced-CO2 products, with a 25% share of revenues from 14 products certified as produced with 100% renewable electricity. Scope 1 and 2 emissions fell by 28% from 2018 levels, in line with the group’s 50% 2030 reduction target. It launched a pilot bitumen felt shingle recycling programme, aimed at recycling 2Mt/yr of shingles in the US by 2030. Further, Owens Corning reduced its generation of landfill waste by 14% from 2018 ..read more

Ireland: Kingspan has contested the European Commission (EC)'s preliminary findings from its investigation of the company’s abandoned attempt to acquire Slovenia-based Trimo in 2021. The Commission preliminarily found that Kingspan negligently or intentionally provided incorrect, incomplete and misleading information during the merger review. The relevant information reportedly pertained to Kingspan’s internal organisation, market scope, barriers to entry and expansion and competition closeness with Trimo. The Irish Independent newspaper has reported that applicable fines may be up to 1% of ..read more

Egypt: Smith Troy for Chemical Industries says that it expects to commission a new US$5m insulation line at Amreya, Alexandria, in June 2024. Business News Africa has reported that trial production will then run for two to three months. Smith Troy for Chemical Industries' CEO Walid Gamal el-Din said that the plant will export 80% of its production, which will contribute US$10m in sales in its first year of operations ..read more

Russia/Kazakhstan: TechnoNICOL plans to invest US$109m in capital expenditure (CAPEX) in Russia and Kazakhstan throughout 2024. The sum is triple TechnoNICOL’s 2023 CAPEX, according to the company. US$27.3m will go towards two projects in Kazakhstan: the completion of the upcoming Almaty insulation plant, scheduled for September 2024, and the start of construction of the upcoming Karaganda insulation plant. The remainder of the sum will fund other projects, including the construction of the upcoming Rostov insulation plant and an expansion to the Chelyabinsk insulation plant, both in Russia ..read more

New Zealand: Germany-based building products and systems producer Sto has concluded a deal to acquire its New Zealand distribution partner Stoanz. Sto says that it expects to complete the acquisition on 1 April 2024. Sto is the market leader in external wall insulation systems in New Zealand. Its other products and services include façade elements and concrete repairs ..read more

South Korea: The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has suspended the Korea Foamed Plastic Industry Cooperative’s standard for expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulating sandwich panels. The standard had been certified by the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology. Maeil Business Newspaper has reported that the suspension is part of a regulatory revision in the interest of fire safety. The value of the South Korean EPS sandwich panel industry is US$1.37bn/yr. The Korea Foamed Plastic Industry Cooperative said “With a severe shortage of certification agencies, it ..read more

US: Rockwool North America plans to build a new US$175m stone wool insulation plant at Wallula Gap, Washington. The Denmark-based producer has acquired 101 hectares of land at the Port of Walla Walla, local press has reported. The upcoming plant will produce insulation using Washington’s abundant igneous rock. Rockwool North America already operates two other US plants, at Byhalia in Mississippi and Ranson in West Virginia, alongside a further two in Canada. It employs 1100 people, and this will rise by 11% to over 1200 people following the entry into operation of the Wallula Gap plant ..read more