German building materials group Knauf Gips (D-97343 Iphofen; www.knauf.com) has acquired the EPS insulating materials activities of Spanish bulding materials manufacturer Uralita (E-28004 Madrid; www.uralita.com) for an undisclosed sum. In 2002, the Spanish business, which employs 36, lost EUR 600,000 on sales of around EUR 17m. Since its takeover of Pfleiderer Dämmstofftechnik in 2002, Uralita has been one of the leading players in insulating materials. The “Glascopor” EPS products were part of its insulation materials unit, known internationally as Poliglas. Half the segment´s sales of EUR 258m in 2002 were from glass wool products, some 35% with XPS sheets (“Glascofoam”), which it plans to retain.

Known primarily as a plaster producer, family-owned Knauf has sales of EUR 2.5 bn and more than 16,000 employees. Following an expansion drive in plastics, Knauf now has injection moulding plants in France, Italy, Spain, UK, the Netherlands, Poland and Brazil. Through its latest acquisition, the group, which already has two sites in Spain, is now Spanish market leader for EPS insulation materials. But even before this move, it was one of Europe´s and the world´s leading EPS processors, with estimated annual consumption of well over 80,000 t. Now a full-range EPS specialist, Knauf´s packaging materials production is concentrated in Knauf Dämmstoffe (D-59329 Wadersloh; www.knauf-daemmstoffe.de). The Gabriel Technologie plant, opened in 1999 at Saint-Ghislain, Belgium, produces some 40,000 t/y of EPS.