Gypsum industry news
Belarus: Construction of a new gypsum plant in Hatava near Minsk started on 7 October 2015. The project is financed by Russia's Volma Corporation, which acquired the Belarusian government's 99.5% stake in AAT Belhips, a Minsk-based manufacturer of gypsum products, for Euro4.65m in 2014. In 2014, Volma Corporation also signed an agreement whereby it would provide a total of Euro45.5m for the modernisation of the Belhips plant and the construction of a new gypsum plant.
Volma Corporation chose Belarus as the place for its new plant because of the country's 'stability and open economy,' according to Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Anatol Kalinin. According to him, the future plant, which is expected to be completed in less than two and a half years, will provide a boost to the Belarusian economy and contribute to Volma's development as well. The plant will manufacture 30Mm2/yr of wallboard, 500,000Mm3/yr of gypsum blocks and 100,000t/yr of dry building mixes. Most of the output will be exported to western Europe when operations start in 2018. The new plant is expected to create at least 180 new jobs.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Volma Company Yuri Goncharov stressed that the construction of a new plant is not a simple project from an economic point of view. "It is not the best time for return on investment. However, looking into the future we understand that the Belarusian construction sector has big potential," said Goncharov. "These are big capacities. Today, Belarus consumes 12Mm2/yr of gypsum. Our main objective is to prove to the Belarusian construction industry that gypsum materials are more efficient in terms of energy performance, environmental friendliness and economy."
Belarusian First Deputy Construction Minister Alyaksandr Kruchanaw described the project as very important for Belarus' construction sector. "It is important for Minsk as well because it is part of efforts to remove industrial facilities from the capital city, which will improve the environment in the city," said Kruchanaw.
New gypsum plant under construction in Karachi
14 September 2015Pakistan: A new gypsum plant is under construction in Karachi, Pakistan, under the name of United Gypsum. The plant will include 100,000t/yr of gypsum powder capacity and 10Mm2/yr of gypsum wallboard capacity. It is expected to start in the middle of 2016.
Saint-Gobain announces new Indian plant
04 September 2015India: Saint Gobain Gyproc will set up a new US$60m manufacturing plant in India. "We have identified western India as suitable location for the new plant," said V Subramanian, Managing Director of Gypsum Business for Saint Gobain India. A final decision on the location will be taken by the end of 2015.
Gyproc India already has three manufacturing plants in the country in Jind (near Delhi), Wada (near Mumbai) and Bengaluru. The combined production capacity of these plants is about 46Mm2/yr. "Our capacity utilisation ratio is very high. The proposed new plant will add another 30Mm2/yr of capacity,'' added Subramanian.
Romania: Siniat Romania, part of Belgian industrial group Etex, will open a Euro50m wallboard plant in Turceni, southern Romania in October 2015.
The company will create 80 new jobs in the production division of the plant. Some 80% of the staff has already been recruited. The plant will produce plasterboard using synthetic gypsum from power producer CET Turceni. It will be the only plant in Romania to use synthetic gypsum from the flue gas desulphurisation process at a thermal power plant, according to Siniat.
DFB Gypsum Industries plans new gypsum wallboard plant
11 August 2015Pakistan: DFB Gypsum Industries has announced that it is building a new gypsum facility in Hattar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The new plant is expected to start production in the middle of 2016. It will have a 100,000t/yr plaster line and a 6Mm2/yr wallboard line.
Onat GYPS opens new wallboard plant in Ankara
27 July 2015Turkey: Onat GYPS has officially opened its new 25,000m2/day capacity gypsum wallboard plant near its gypsum plaster plant in Ankara, Turkey. The machine and automation systems were developed by Grenzebach Maschinenbau GmbH engineers.
JSC Zhambylgips to modernise gypsum plant in Zhambyl
23 July 2015Kazakhstan: A new gypsum building mixtures plant will be launched in Zhambyl by the end of 2015, according to the Kazinform International News Agency. The project has been initiated under the state programme, 'Industrialisation Map of Kazakhstan.'
JSC Zhambylgips is modernising the existing plant for US$9.09m. Once complete, the plant will have 270,000t/yr dry compounds and gypsum products capacity and will employ 50 people. It is assumed that the plant will produce about 600t/day of gypsum. The products will be delivered to local and foreign markets, mainly in Russia and central Asia.
Itera to supply compressed natural gas to Knauf
07 July 2015Russia: According to Interfax, Bratskekogaz, which is controlled by Rosneft subsidiary Itera, has concluded a contract to supply Knauf Gips Baikal with compressed natural gas from the Bratskoye field in Irkutsk.
Bratskekogaz has signed agreements to supply compressed natural gas to Knauf Gips Baikal, which has a current demand of 25Mm3/yr. The implementation period is 2016 – 2017. It was reported previously that Knauf CIS was in talks with Itera to supply compressed natural gas to Knauf Gips Baikal to reduce production costs. Knauf Gips Baikal currently operates on liquefied gas delivered from Krasnoyarsk, Tyumen and Omsk, which is 260% more expensive than natural gas delivered by pipeline. This has made it difficult to compete with imported gypsum wallboard and dry construction mixes from China and South Korea.
Knauf will invest US$1.5m in the project to switch to compressed natural gas. The money will be used to build a gas acceptance facility and rebuild the burners and pipelines. The supplier is responsible for building the compressor station and supplying the compressed natural gas tankers for transportation.
Romania: According to News website ZF English, Siniat Romania, part of Belgium's Etex Group, has completed the construction of its Euro50m, greenfield wallboard plant in the southern city of Turceni.
Australia: The Gladstone Port Corporation has approved construction of a US$54m Knauf Plasterboard manufacturing plant at Bundaberg Port, Queensland to begin by the end of 2015. The project is anticipated to create up to 100 local jobs over the next 18 months, according to local media. The plant is due to be completed in January 2017.