Global Gypsum is hosting the 2nd Global GypSupply Conference & Exhibition in partnership with Eurogypsum, the European gypsum association, in Brussels, Belgium, on 22 - 23 February 2023. Topics include global gypsum supply trends and market dynamics. Here, we present the 10 countries with the largest natural gypsum industries by production volume in 2022.
Natural gypsum is a common marine evaporite and a popular source of raw material in gypsum wallboard production around the world. Exploitation of this resource is unevenly distributed: just 10 countries contributed over 70% of the global output in 2022.1
Figure 1 (opposite) shows the ‘Top 10’ national shares of global natural gypsum production over the five-year period up to the end of 2021. Four Asian countries (Iran, China, Thailand and Japan) produced 43.1Mt of gypsum (29%) in 2022. Two North American countries (the US and Mexico) produced 28.4Mt (19%), three European countries (Spain, Germany and Türkiye) produced 20.9Mt (14%) and one Middle Eastern country (Oman) produced 11Mt (7.3%).
1. The US
Gypsum production: 23Mt/yr
Gypsum exports:2 35,000t/yr, US$4.7m/yr
Gross domestic product (GDP): US$23.3tn (+11%)
Population (2021):3 332m (+0.1%)
Gypsum deposits occur in sedimentary beds in the US formed during the Paleozoic (Michigan Basin, Michigan) down to the Miocene (Big Basin, Kansas) era. The Global Gypsum Directory 2022 lists 36 active gypsum mines across the US. These cluster in the mountainous southwestern portion of the country: 13 in the Southern US, 13 in the Western US and 10 in the Midwest.
Six gypsum wallboard producers participate in US gypsum extraction. Their operations vary in scale from Germany-based Knauf’s eight mines down to Pacific Coast Building Products’ single mine in Nevada.
Other companies mine US gypsum, but do not themselves produce gypsum wallboard. ACG Materials’ six mines supply gypsum for various applications, including gypsum wallboard production.
2. Iran
Gypsum production:16Mt/yr.
Gypsum exports:4 4.2Mt/yr.
GDP: US$360bn (+11%).
Population: 87.9m (+50%).
Iran’s 900Mt natural gypsum reserves span 24 of the nation’s 31 provinces.5 Deposits are most numerous in Fars (90 sites) and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad (77 sites), both in southern Iran.
Of Iran’s five gypsum wallboard producers, only Sadaf Gypsum, which operates the 3Mm2/yr Bastak gypsum wallboard plant in Hormozgan Province, also appears as a natural gypsum supplier in the Global Gypsum Directory 2022. It mines gypsum at the site of its plant, near Iran’s Gulf coast. Table 1 (below) lists some other major Iranian gypsum producers.
Table 1: Major Iranian natural gypsum producers by production capacity. Source: Global Gypsum research.
| Producer | Province | Production (Mt/yr) |
| Paridisum | Semnan | 7 |
| Razi Semnan Gypsum | Semnan | 0.45 |
| Jonoub Gypsum | Fars | 0.36 |
Jonoub Gypsum’s Lamerd mine in Fars boasts 70Mt of gypsum reserves. Meanwhile, Samim Derakhshan controls 60Mt of gypsum reserves in neighbouring Hormozgan Province, where it aims to establish a 1Mt/yr mine. The Iranian gypsum wallboard industry is a relatively minor customer for producers’ gypsum, of which over 25% was exported in 2021. This placed Iran second globally in gypsum export volumes. Samim Derakhshan exported its gypsum to the lucrative markets of the Gulf states, India and East and Southeast Asia.
3. China
Gypsum production:13Mt/yr.
Gypsum exports, 2021: US$22.4m (-17%).
GDP: US$17.7tn (+21%).
Population: 1.41bn (+0.1%).
Despite a wealth of deposits, natural gypsum is a less important source of raw material in Chinese gypsum wallboard production than phosphogypsum and synthetic gypsum from flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) at coal-fired power plants.6 Most reserves are not economically situated, nor of consistent purity, when compared with the alternatives.
A typical Chinese gypsum producer is Shandong Baier Building Materials, which serves its 30Mm2/yr gypsum wallboard production capacity with a natural gypsum production of 20,000t/yr from its Pingyi mine in Linyi, Shandong.
=4. Spain
Gypsum production: 11Mt/yr.
Gypsum exports: US$134m/yr.
GDP: US$1.43tn (+12%).
Population: 47.4bn (+0.1%).
Spain has 60Bnt in total gypsum reserves, located in:
1 - Paleogene deposits in Aragon, Catalonia, La Rioja, Navarre and the Valencian Community in eastern Spain.
2 - Neogene deposits in eastern Spain, and extending west into Castile and León, Castilla-La Mancha and Madrid and south into Murcia and Andalusia.
3 - Quaternary deposits in Castilla-La Mancha and Eastern Andalusia.
The Neogene deposits of Andalusia are Spain’s major commercial gypsum source. There, Torralba Grupo mines 4Mt/yr of gypsum from its four quarries in Almería Municipality. Two gypsum wallboard companies participate in Spanish gypsum production: Knauf and Saint-Gobain. Figure 3 (below) divides total national mines according to ownership.
=4. Oman
Gypsum production: 11Mt/yr
Gypsum exports: 8.74Mt/yr
GDP: US$88.2bn (+16%)
Population: 4.52m (-17%)
Oman has been the leading global exporter of natural gypsum since 2017, when it overtook Thailand. It reached its previous peak, of 9.4Mt, in 2018. Based on its 10-month national production of 8.2Mt between January and October 2022, we can project full-year exports for the year of 10.1Mt. Figure 4 (top) incorporates this projection with data for the previous five years.
Gypsum wallboard producers from India to Taiwan rely on Omani gypsum in their operations. Table 2 (right) quantifies their export volumes and shares of Oman’s total gypsum exports in the first 10 months of 2022.
Oman, along with China, Iran and Saudi Arabia, became subject to an Indian anti-dumping duty on its gypsum exports in early 2022. The measure will remain in force until the end of 2026.
Minerals Development Oman (MDO) uncovered new ‘large’ gypsum reserves in Shaleem, Dhofar Governorate, in mid-2022. MDO CEO Nasser al Maqbali said that the reserves are able to support the future growth of Omani gypsum exports due to their high purity and proximity to consumer markets. MDO already controlled a 15Mt gypsum deposit in Wadi Al Jizi, Al Batinah North governorate.
Of the seven other Omani gypsum mines listed in the Global Gypsum Directory 2022, five are in Dhofar Governorate and two are in Muscat Governorate.
Table 2: Omani gypsum export destinations by volume received, January - October 2022. Source: Zawawi Minerals.
| Country/region | Imports (Mt) | Share (%) |
| India | 3.84 | 47 |
| Bangladesh | 1.12 | 14 |
| Vietnam | 1.12 | 13 |
| Southeast Africa | 0.58 | 7.1 |
| Indonesia | 0.47 | 5.8 |
| Japan | 0.44 | 5.4 |
| UAE | 0.17 | 2.1 |
| Sri Lanka | 0.16 | 1.9 |
| Philippines | 0.14 | 1.8 |
| Qatar | 0.11 | 1.3 |
| Taiwan | 0.05 | 0.6 |
| TOTAL | 8.2 | 100 |
6. Thailand
Gypsum production: 9.8Mt/yr
Gypsum exports: 4.91Mt/yr
GDP: US$506bn (+1.3%)
Population: 71.6m (+0.2%)
Thailand’s gypsum deposits include the 25Mt Phichit deposit in Central Thailand’s Mesozoic Era Khorat Group. Meanwhile in Southern Thailand, 10Mt lies within the Surat Thani deposits, from which POS Mines currently extracts 700,000t/yr.
Thailand contends with Oman for gypsum markets around the Indian Ocean and in East Asia. During the first nine months of 2022, the country exported 4.69Mt of gypsum - worth US$95.5m - to 10 different countries. Table 3 (below) ranks Thai gypsum exports destinations throughout the nine-month period.
The Thai government fixes gypsum export volume quotas and prices on an annual basis. During 2022, the government ordered a minimum selling price of US$18.5/t of gypsum.
Other Thai gypsum products of global importance include gypsum wallboard. In New Zealand, where Thai gypsum wallboard holds a 60% import market share, extra despatches from Thailand helped to ease a shortage during the first half of 2022.
Table 3: Thai gypsum export destinations by volume received, January - September 2022. Source: Zawawi Minerals.
| Country | Imports (Mt) | Share (%) |
| Vietnam | 1 | 21 |
| Indonesia | 0.97 | 21 |
| Malaysia | 0.92 | 20 |
| Japan | 0.79 | 17 |
| Cambodia | 0.26 | 5.6 |
| China | 0.23 | 4.9 |
| South Korea | 0.23 | 4.9 |
| Philippines | 0.15 | 3.2 |
| Taiwan | 0.09 | 1.9 |
| India | 0.05 | 1.1 |
| TOTAL | 4.69 | 100 |
7. Mexico
Gypsum production: 5.4Mt/yr
Gypsum exports: US$52.6m/yr
GDP: US$1.27tn (+17%)
Population:127m (+0.4%)
Leading Mexican gypsum producer COMSA celebrates its centenary in 2023.8 It can produce up to 3Mt/yr of gypsum from its San Marcos mine in Baja California Sur. The mine has a shipping terminal, from which gypsum is regularly despatched for markets around the Pacific Ocean.
=7. Türkiye
Gypsum production: 5.4Mt/yr
Gypsum exports: US$91m/yr
GDP: US$819bn (+14%)
Population: 84.8m (+0.8%)
Türkiye’s most significant sources of gypsum are the Aksaray-Uulukışla, Bala and Sivas gypsum deposits in Central Anatolia. Gypsum lies in thicknesses of up to 50m, below which lies anhydrite to depths of more than 150m. The Aksaray-Uulukışla deposit includes sinkhole gypsum karsts up to 750m deep.
Türkiye was the leading exporter of cement to the US by a considerable margin in the first nine months of 2022. The US imported 7.41Mt of Turkish gypsum over the period, 37% of a total 20.1Mt, ahead of Canadian gypsum at 3.61Mt (18%) and Mexican gypsum at 2Mt (10%).
9. Germany
Gypsum production: 4.5Mt/yr
Gypsum exports: US$134m/yr
GDP: US$4.26tn (+9.5%)
Population: 83.2m (+<0.1%)
Gypsum mining occurs at 70 sites along Germany’s ‘Gypsum Belt.’9 This area of Mesozoic rock curves from western Baden-Württemberg, across central Bavaria, north to the Harz mountains. There, Saxony-Anhalt’s Südharz District alone yields 2.5Mt/yr of gypsum.
10. Japan
Gypsum production: 4.3Mt/yr
Gypsum exports: US$2.85m/yr
GDP: US$4.94tn (-2%)
Population: 126m (-0.5%)
References
1. US Geological Survey, ‘Gypsum Statistics and Information,’ January 2023, www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center/gypsum-statistics-and-information
2. World Bank Data, ‘Population, total - US, Iran, China, Spain, Oman, Thailand, Türkiye, Mexico, Germany, Japan,’ January 2023, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=US-IR-CN-ES-OM-TH-TR-MX-DE-JP
3. OEC, ‘Gypsum in the United States,’ October 2022, www.oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/gypsum/reporter/usa
4. Global Gypsum News, ‘Oman exports 8.74Mt of gypsum in 2021,’ 4 February 2022, www.globalgypsum.com/news/item/1789-oman-exports-8-74mt-of-gypsum-in-2021
5. Gypsang, ‘Gypsum deposits in the world and Iran,’ 19 July 2020, www.gypsang.com/gypsum-deposits.
6. China Bao Gao, Development Trend Analysis and Future Prospect Forecast Report of China’s Gypsum Industry (2022-2029), 8 June 2022, www.chinabaogao.com/detail/604416.html
7. Kavaklı, Seyfi Kulaksız, Mehmet Tombul and Mustafa Sever, Economic Potential and Production of Gypsum Deposits in Turkey, www.dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/366504
8. Mexico Business News, ‘Leading Gypsum Producer Moving Toward Renewables,’ www.mexicobusiness.news/mining/news/leading-gypsum-producer-moving-toward-renewable-energy
9. Das Erste, ‘Kampf um den Gips, 2 October 2010, www.daserste.de/information/wissen-kultur/w-wie-wissen/Kampf-um-den-Gips-100.html
