VILLEPINTE, France—Kingspan Group P.L.C. plans to invest $69.3 million (€60 million) toward its French business. The insulation company says France is currently its largest market,
France is currently the Irish rigid polyisocyanurate (PIR) and polyurethane (PU) insulation maker's largest market, according to senior company representatives.
"In 2020, Kingspan posted revenues of ($5.3 billion) and a profit of slightly more than ($578 million)," Raoul Roth, CEO of local subsidiary Kingspan Light+Air Southern Europe, said in a statement. "In 2021, France became a country where Kingspan Group, which has 166 production facilities across the world, has the strongest presence, and the first country in terms of (our) revenues."
When asked about the group's investment plans in France, Cedric Bruge, CEO of Kingspan Panneaux Sandwich Isolants France, said the plant in Riom, near Clermont-Ferrand, will become more important. Kingspan acquired the site when it bought insulation panel distributor Bacacier, and the site is currently being expanded.
Production capacities from some of the group's other factories will be transferred to the facility in Riom, according to Bruge.
"We have four plants in the area surrounding Clermont-Ferrand that we will unify around a single center," he said. "The European center (of operations) must clearly be located in Clermont."