ROCKFON breaks ground on its first North American acoustic ceiling panel manufacturing facility

ROCKFON is the leading supplier of stone wool acoustic solutions, and a subsidiary of Denmark-based ROCKWOOL International A/S and an affiliate to ROXUL Inc., the ROCKWOOL Group's insulation subsidiary in North America.

Company leaders from the ROCKFON business, the ROCKWOOL Group and the ROXUL business were joined at the construction site by Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, Philip Gunn, in addition to ROCKFON customers, and other leaders from the community, company and industry.

ROCKFON's fifth facility in the world

The Mississippi facility will be the ROCKFON company's fifth manufacturing facility in the world, extending global capacity and meeting the growing demand for the ROCKFON stone wool acoustic ceiling products in North America. The new facility represents an initial investment of approximately $40 million U.S. dollars (€36 million) by the ROCKWOOL Group.

"The investment in this new facility demonstrates the strong commitment of our company to support the North American market, and of the State of Mississippi and Marshall County to support economic development in the area," said John Medio, the ROCKFON Managing Director for North America.

"Today is a great day for Marshall County as the ROCKFON company prepares to begin construction of its new acoustic ceiling tile facility. Once complete, the company's significant investment and creation of 90 new jobs will have a strong positive affect on the local community and economy," said Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant. "I congratulate the ROCKFON team and everyone involved in bringing this great company to Mississippi on this milestone event."

Located approximately 31 miles (50 km) from Memphis, Tennessee, the new ROCKFON facility in Marshall County will span 130,000 square feet (12,000 square meters) with room for future expansion. Production is expected to begin mid- 2017. The new ROCKFON manufacturing facility in Mississippi, and its strategically positioned U.S. distribution centres, will provide for comprehensive coverage and servicing of the North American market.

In North America, the ROCKWOOL Group operates under the name ROXUL. ROXUL has been in North America since 1988. The new ROCKFON facility will be adjacent to the ROXUL business' existing facility in Marshall County, which manufactures its full line of residential, commercial, industrial and roof board products.

The ROCKFON company has been operating in North America since January 2013. With the acquisition of Chicago Metallic® in October 2013, the ROCKFON business provides customers with a complete ceiling system. Its product offering combines ROCKFON stone wool and specialty metal ceiling panels with Chicago Metallic suspension systems.

The new facility in Mississippi will manufacture ROCKFON stone wool acoustic ceiling products. The ROCKFON company will continue to manufacture its specialty metal ceiling panels and Chicago Metallic suspension systems in its Chicago and Baltimore facilities. Chicago Metallic suspension systems also are manufactured in Belgium, Malaysia and China. Other ROCKFON stone wool manufacturing facilities are located in the Netherlands, Poland, France and Russia.

The ROCKWOOL Group has 10,600 employees in 37 countries and is listed on the Nasdaq Copenhagen stock exchange. The ROCKWOOL Group confirmed plans for its North American acoustic ceiling panel manufacturing facility in the U.S. on the stock exchange on 19 November, 2015.