— By Plasteurope.com staff — 

Amid an industry crisis, Austrotherm (Waldegg, Austria; www.austrotherm.at), a manufacturer of EPS and XPS insulation boards, is pursuing a strategy of expansion. The company, which recently acquired a third production plant in Austria, has now brought a facility in Croatia onstream after a year of construction. Austrotherm reports that the new site in Zabok – some 30 km north of the Croatian capital Zagreb – shortens delivery distances to local customers. The specialist for insulation boards has so far supplied Croatian customers from other production sites.

The Austrian company also announced that it is poised to acquire a well-known competitor from Greece, but did not disclose the company’s name. Greek manufacturers of EPS insulation board include Novamix (Athens), Madel (Ioannina), Styropan (Thessaloniki), and Tsakonas (Nea Potidaia), and general construction suppliers such as Katsifourakis (Chania). Austrotherm is now also engaged in negotiations for the acquisition of a production plant in Turkey.

Related: Austrotherm’s German subsidiary plans to raise prices for deliveries of XPS insulation boards

When addressing the status of the industry, CEO of Austrotherm Group, Heimo Pascher, said, “The European building industry has been experiencing a slump in orders for some time now, particularly in housing construction.” He went on to say, “Every crisis is also an opportunity, however. We are using this phase to strategically prepare for the years to come as we expect positive catch-up effects once the construction crisis is over. We also expect the fight against the climate crisis to further boost demand for insulation materials.”

In 2023, the Austrotherm Group generated sales of EUR 436 mn. Currently, the company employs 1,400 in 27 plants across 12 countries. The company group is embedded in Schmid Industrieholding, which posted sales of EUR 2.4 bn last year.