James Hardie Industries plc is a world leader in the manufacture of fiber cement
siding and backerboard. Our products are used in a number of markets, including
new residential construction (single and multi-family housing), manufactured
housing, repair and remodeling and a variety of commercial and industrial applications.
We manufacture numerous types of fiber cement products with a variety of patterned
profiles and surface finishes for a range of applications, including external
siding and trim and soffit lining, internal linings, facades and floor and tile
underlay. Our current primary geographic markets include the United States of
America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Europe.
James Hardie was established in 1888 as an import business, listing on the
Australian Securities Exchange (“ASX”) in 1951 to become a publicly
owned company in Australia. After becoming a listed company, we built a diverse
portfolio of building and industrial products. In the late-1970s, we pioneered
the development of asbestos-free fiber cement technology and in the early-1980’s
began designing and manufacturing a wide range of fiber cement building products
that made use of the benefits that came from the products’ durability,
versatility and strength. Using the technical and manufacturing expertise developed
in Australia, we expanded into the United States, opening our first fiber cement
plant in Fontana, California in February 1990.
Based on net sales, we believe we are the largest manufacturer of fiber cement
products and systems for internal and external building construction applications
in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. We market
our fiber cement products and systems under various Hardie brand names, such
as HardiePlank®, HardiePanel®, HardieTrim® and HardieBacker®
boards, and other brand names such as Artisan® by James Hardie, Cemplank®,
Scyon® and HardieLinea®.
We manufacture a wide-range of fiber cement building materials for both internal
and external use across a broad range of applications, including: external siding,
internal walls, floors, ceilings, soffits, trim, fencing and facades. While
there are some market specific products, our core product ranges, being planks,
which are used for external siding and flat sheets, are used for internal and
external wall linings and floor underlayments and are sold across all of the
markets in which we operate.
Products Used in External Applications
We developed a proprietary technology platform that enables us to produce thicker
yet lighter-weight fiber cement products that are generally easier to handle
than most traditional building products. Further, we believe that our products
provide certain performance, design and cost advantages, while offering comparable
aesthetics to competing products such as wood and vinyl siding.
Performance and design advantages:
Our fiber cement products exhibit resistance to the damaging effects of moisture,
fire, impact and termites compared to natural and engineered wood and wood-based
products;
Competing products do not duplicate fiber cement aesthetics and the characteristics
necessary for effectively accepting paint applications;
Our fiber cement products provide the ability to imprint designs that closely
resemble the patterns and profiles of traditional building materials such as
wood and stucco;
The surface properties of our products provide an effective paint-holding finish,
especially when compared to natural and engineered wood products, allowing for
greater periods of time between necessary maintenance and repainting; and
Compared to masonry construction, fiber cement is lightweight, physically flexible
and can be cut using readily available tools, making our products more appealing
across a broad range of architectural styles, be it of timber or steel-framed
construction.
In the US and Canada, the largest application for fiber cement building products
is in external siding for the residential building industry. The external siding
market includes various cladding types, including fiber cement, vinyl, natural
wood, engineered wood, brick, stucco and stone. Based on industry estimates,
vinyl has the largest share of the US and Canadian siding markets. External
siding typically occupies a significant square footage component of the outside
of every building. Selection of siding material is based on installed cost,
durability, aesthetic appeal, strength, weather resistance, maintenance requirements
and cost, insulating properties and other features. Different regions of the
US and Canada show a preference amongst siding materials according to economic
conditions, weather, materials availability and local preference.
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