The growth-oriented Wolf Group has ambitious expansion plans for 2024. The company has already invested around 5 million euros in a new factory on the Iberian Peninsula.
This year, Wolf Group is celebrating its 30th anniversary and is in a stronger and more prominent position than ever before. Founded in 1994 by two Estonians, the company has grown into a market leader, covering 1/6th of the globe and exporting to 70 countries on all continents.
Wolf Group is set to change the Iberian construction sector forever by opening the first-ever PU foam factory on the peninsula. Located in Gavà, Barcelona, the new plant is expected to be operational by early February. This project marks a milestone in the sector as a whole: for the first time, polyurethane foams will be manufactured in Spain. Wolf Group founder Jaanus Paeväli says that foam production is unique not only in Iberia but anywhere in the Mediterranean, North Africa and Near East. “No one has had the courage and drive to build a PU foam factory there,” he remarks. “I’m proud that Wolf Group, as an international player on the market, has a solid grounding throughout the region.” Known for his sense of humour, Paeväli says the factory had to come to Gavà, where cava is produced, to add even more foam to the region.
This will be the Wolf Group’s second factory in Spain. The new facility will strengthen the position of Wolf Group Ibérico, which has a long history and an excellent reputation as a silicone and sealant producer. It will provide an opportunity for growth and help to serve the Wolf Group’s focus markets more effectively in Europe and the USA. “From the customer’s point of view, we are stronger, our risks are mitigated and our clients can be sure that we’ll provide excellent customer service,” says Wolf Group CEO Peeter Tohver.
“The new factory will generate up to 50 new jobs,” adds Wolf Group founder Jaan Puusaag, “many of them unprecedented on the peninsula.” The supply chain will also be as local as possible. The facility has been equipped with the most advanced technology and will be capable of manufacturing more than 70 foam combinations in the initial phase alone, including low-MDI, no-MDI and regular foams. More than 5 million units are expected to be produced in the first year.
Low-MDI and no-MDI foams are a growing trend on the construction market, as the sector moves towards healthier, safer and more environmentally friendly products. Wolf Group is at the forefront of very low MDI innovation. Europe’s first low-diisocyanate monomer content spray foam, which combines a high-performing formulation with a spray nozzle, is already a success story. In the coming year a range of new low-MDI foams will be launched, including a B2 gun foam, a B2 spray foam and a foam adhesive. The Iberian factory will become the competence centre of the group’s low-MDI and no-MDI production, meeting all the needs of its existing markets.
In addition to this new plant, Wolf Group recently acquired the Libace technical aerosols factory in Estonia as part of its strategy to increase its production capacity globally. This unit, specializing in a single area, will allow the company’s Tallinn factory to focus on producing sealants and foams. This will enhance its ability to provide customers with a wider array of value-added services. “These deals may not be the only ones in the short term, either,” Paeväli adds. “We will keep our eyes open and see what happens on the market.”
Wolf Group is a leading European manufacturer and distributor of construction chemistry products and systems. Its production units and sales branches are situated in the European Union, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, North and South America and Central Asia. The main product brand of Wolf Group is Penosil.