Europe Mineral Wool Panels Market - 2023-2030

Europe Mineral Wool Panels Market - 2023-2030

Market Overview

The Europe mineral wool panels market reached US$ XX million in 2022 and is expected to record significant growth by reaching up to US$ XX million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 3.7% during the forecast period (2023-2030).

Mineral wool panels are modern pre-fabricated construction components used as insulation panels for different types of buildings. These are construction materials manufactured by joining the fibers of minerals such as glass or rock. Its ability to protect against sound, extreme weather conditions and sudden breakouts of fires.

The important use of insulation material is for energy conservation which helps to resist heat flow. Different product types of insulating materials depend upon the requirement, like radiant barriers and reflective insulation systems. The application of insulation materials includes fireproofing ceilings and walls, power transformers, protective coating on electrical wire & cables and the manufacturing of solar panels. The rise in the launch of new environmentally-friendly functional materials for insulation around the globe may create a huge opportunity for the mineral wool panels market.

Market Dynamics

The increasing demand for energy-efficient buildings with a surge in government schemes & support for the building & construction sector is expected to boost the market for mineral wool panels in the forecast period. However, high production costs and fluctuation in raw material prices could be major market restraints.

Increasing demand for energy-efficient buildings with a surge in the government schemes & support for the building & construction sector

The mineral wool material plays a vital role in the manufacturing of sandwich panels as the demand for energy-saving insulation materials is increasing due to climate changes and rising global pollution. For instance, in UK, around 20 million people are affected by flooding yearly, costing around US$ 83 billion to UK’s GDP. Further annually cost of damaging urban areas has reached more than US$ 1.29 billion. Further increasing investment in developing zero-emission mineral wool materials to combat climate change around the globe has propelled the demand for the Europe mineral wool market.

According to UN Environmental Program Report, several countries and the private sector are collaborating to build a zero-carbon emission construction & buildings sector to mobilize US$ 1 trillion in “Paris-compliant” building investments in developing countries by 2030. This will boost the demand for energy-efficient mineral wool materials for the building & construction sector around Europe. Rising demand for pre-engineered buildings (PEB) in Europe for adopting the environment-friendly nature and positive outlook in acoustic insulation applications used in the building & construction sector. In Europe, pre-engineered buildings (PEB) has been drastically increased global consumers of raw materials and constructed objects account for 25-40% of the world’s total carbon emissions. 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to buildings (at the same time, UK government has set a target for 2025 of a 50% reduction in today’s level of greenhouse gas emissions in the country’s built environment). Government Initiatives, such as Housing for all, Smart Cities, among others, are fueling the growth of urban infrastructure and construction development, which shows a promising opportunity for the market in the forecast period

High production cost and fluctuation in raw material price

High production costs and fluctuations in raw material prices are the major restraints hindering the growth of the market globally. It requires high investment costs. Therefore the price of the panels is strongly related to the production volume. Mining mineral wools require a huge machinery, equipment and raw materials investment. For instance, the average cost for mineral wool production ranges from US$ 1000 to US$ 5000 million per production capacity.

High production costs limit the use of such mineral wools. While keeping the increase in raw material cost, the price of mineral wool automatically rises. Labor costs needed to produce the grillage structure are based on the welding length. Overhead costs include electricity expenses, welding electrodes and amortization of equipment, among others. These are calculated again based on the length of the welds. The production of complex, large foam cores involves a time-consuming milling process, which can cause up to 90% of scrap. As a result, the costs of a pre-cut, 3D-milled foam core can rise extremely. The material selection here is largely driven by cost. Many of the mineral wool material combinations common in other industries, such as aerospace, are far less feasible for use here, despite their superior mechanical properties.

Production costs are small compared to material costs, which is true for some types of mineral wool construction. They could be separated into costs needed to produce steel mineral wool and grillage. Mineral wool is produced by laser welding in an automated production facility and the costs are high. Typically polymer foams (often polyurethane, polystyrene, PVC or PMI) or lightweight woods (usually balsa or cedar) have been used as core materials in low-cost applications rather than more expensive-to-manufacture honeycomb cores.

The crisis in the building & construction sector in Europe has hampered the growth of the sandwich panel market. For instance, the European building material and construction sector is declining by 15-20% due to several reasons, including the financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic-induced shocks.

COVID-19 Impact Analysis

The European economies entered a severe economic crisis due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Trade internationally has declined a great deal. In the spring of 2020, lockdown measures required several industries to cease operations at only a small portion of their usual capacity. International travel restrictions and heightened border procedures increased the expense of international trade. Due to revenue losses and increased inflation, goods and services prices dropped and are expected to remain low for longer.

The economy has been severely affected, as well as domestic and international trade, households, enterprises, financial institutions, industrial organizations and infrastructure companies, by COVID-19 outbreaks. Economic problems brought on by the virus have affected many extra businesses in Europe. Similar to how the COVID-19 pandemic has endangered engineering and building projects in Europe, many automotive projects were also shelved. As a result, all nations in Europe have gone through a building industry financial recession, which has exacerbated unemployment. The building sector is extremely worried, nervous and anxious about this situation.

Similarly, The automobile industry contributes significantly to economic expansion and job creation in many Central and Eastern European (CEE) nations, including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and Romania. The outlook for the industry in every country depends on foreign demand, resilience to supply chain disruptions and the capacity to seize new opportunities as the industry adapts and transforms. Since COVID-19 affects all these areas, the European Automotive market also witnessed severe losses.

Since construction projects and automotive are the only sources of sandwich panel demand, the COVID-19 problem had a catastrophic impact on the Europe mineral wool market, decreasing demand and sales in that particular sector. The market in question is anticipated to rebound with the building business as the pandemic's hold on the world economy begins to break.

Segment Analysis

The Europe mineral wool panels market is classified based on type, application, end-user and country.

The Cost-effectiveness of rock wool, along with the rising demand for thermally efficient buildings for comfortable living and increasing adoption of green building projects and construction, boosts the demand for rock wool

Rock wool is made from the insulation of rock-based mineral fiber materials such as basalt volcanic rock and recycled slag. The recycled slag contains by-products of the steel and copper industry, which are melted together and spun into fibers. Rock wool is abundant on the earth, extracted, processed and used for insulation purposes. Thus rock wool is being used for several applications, including residential insulation, industrial pipe insulations, commercial and industrial insulation and building & construction insulations.

Rock wool is a cost-effective building and construction insulation solution which offers thermal insulation and fire protection. They have better sound absorption and noise reduction capacity and are hence preferred in industrial applications. The rock wool demand is driven by the increasing adoption of green building projects and construction and the rising demand for thermally efficient buildings for comfortable living. Rock wool possesses environmental benefits such as it helps in the reduction of energy consumption, reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions such as CO2 and NOx emission from buildings which helps to make buildings more energy efficient. For instance, in Europe, the rock wool demand is driven by the increasing adoption of green building projects and construction and the rising demand for thermally efficient buildings for comfortable living.

Growing investment and funding for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from building and construction has propelled this segmental growth. For instance, as per the report by Europe UNEP Organization, governments, companies and private institutions from around 136 countries have invested around US$ 139 billion in low-carbon building materials, building envelope improvements, nature-based solutions and equipment and system efficiency. The respective factors propel the demand for rock wool for building insulation in Europe.

Geographical Analysis

The high presence of the automobile industry and increasing R&D investments boost the demand for mineral wool panels in Germany

Germany's market for mineral wools is growing at a stable rate owing to the high presence of the automobile industry and increasing usage of honeycomb-based mineral wools in the manufacturing of EV vehicles. Increasing R&D investments in developing novel technologies for various automobile and aircraft applications are expected to boost immense demand for honeycomb-based mineral wools in Germany during the forecast period.

The key players providing services in the Europe mineral wools market include Izopanel Sp.z o.o., Balex Metal, Arpanel, Paneltech Sp. Z o.o., Arcelor Mittal S.A are among many other companies. The key strategies adopted by the major players in the Europe mineral wools market include merger and acquisition between the global companies and regional companies to improve their business presence in respective developed and developing regions. Further, Germany has the highest production facilities for mineral wool-based products owing to rising demand for insulation for the commercial, residential and industrial sectors.

Competitive Landscape

The Europe mineral wool panels market is huge. It is becoming increasingly competitive due to major players such as Saint-Gobain, ArcelorMittal S.A., Isopan, Kingspan Group, DANA Group of Companies, Assan Panel A.Ş., Isomec S.r.l., Metecno and Romakowski GmbH & Co. KG. The market is fragmented and market players employ market tactics such as mergers, acquisitions, product launches, contributions and collaborations to gain a competitive advantage and recognition.

Saint-Gobain

Overview: Saint-Gobain is a manufacturer of construction materials and insulation panels. The group provides a wide range of high-performance materials with expertise in innovation and co-development for demanding applications such as the automotive, aeronautical, health, defense, security and food & beverage industries. On March 29, 2010, Saint Gobain acquired Isover, a manufacturer and supplier of sustainable insulation solutions for all major application areas in residential and non-residential buildings.

Product Portfolio:
• MULTIMAX LAMBDA 030: The ISOVER Multimax Lambda 030 glass wool is a mineral wool product with the best thermal performance on the market. It offers the same thermal resistance as the other mineral wools but with a lower thickness, which enables space savings in occupied attics and walls.

Key Development:
• On September 3, 2020, Saint-Gobain acquired Strikolith, a leading internal finishing and exterior insulation systems provider. This acquisition enhanced the group's solution offering and, in particular, offering External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems (ETICS) and construction chemicals in the Netherlands.

Why Purchase the Report?
• To visualize the Europe mineral wool panels market segmentation based on type, application, end-user and country, as well as understand key commercial assets and players.
• Identify commercial opportunities in the Europe mineral wool panels market by analyzing trends and co-development.
• Excel data sheet with numerous mineral wool panels market-level data points with four segments.
• PDF report consisting of cogently put together market analysis after exhaustive qualitative interviews and in-depth market study.
• Product mapping available as excel consisting of key products of all the major market players

The Europe mineral wool panels market report would provide approximately 38 tables, 34 figures and almost 161 pages.

Product Audience 2023
• Manufacturers/ Buyers
• Industry Investors/Investment Bankers
• Research Professionals
• Emerging Companies