Gypsum industry news

Belarus: Knauf Gips plans to invest around Euro70m in a gypsum wallboard plant at Gatovo near Minsk. The decision follows the announcement that Knauf has acquired a 50% share in the charter capital of Volma’s operations in Belarus, according to the Belarusian Telegraph Agency. Knauf arranged to become a joint-owner of Belgips with Russia’s Volma in early 2017

Construction of Belgips’ new plant started in late 2015. Once completed the unit plans to produce 30Mm²/yr of gypsum wallboard, 0.5m²/yr of gypsum partition blocks and 0.1Mt/yr of dry building mixtures. Products made at the plant will be used domestically and for export.

Belarus: Knauf is expected to become the joint owner of Belgips in April 2017 when Belorussian and Russian competition bodies approve its purchase of half of the company from Russia's Volma. Following the transaction Volma will own the remaining half of the gypsum wallboard producer, according to Business News Belarus. The move follows a decision by Volma to concentrate on the Russian market. The Belorussian government has already approved the deal.

Belarus: Belarusian gypsum wallboard demand will decrease by 12.5 - 17% in 2015, according to OJSC Belgips and FLLC Knauf Marketing, key players in the country. According to the companies' executives, the fall is a consequence of reducing funding of the construction industry and a decline in commercial real estate.

"In 2014, gypsum wallboard consumption in Belarus amounted to about 12Mm². In 2015, we estimate that the consumption will decrease to 10 - 10.5Mm²," said the director of Belgips, Stanislav Babitsky. The director of FLLC Knauf Marketing Alexander Babkin confirmed the 2014 market size at 12Mm² and said that he expects demand in 2015 to fall to 10Mm².

The head of corporate communications of Knauf for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Leonid Moose said that the main consumer of wallboard in Belarus was the business-to-business (B2B) sector, namely, the commercial real estate market. Out of the total wallboard consumption, the B2B sector had 70%, while the business-to-consumer (B2C) sector had 30%.

"The commercial real estate market is falling, while the population is beginning to save money and invest it in repairs. For this reason, we are observing the fall of consumption of gypsum wallboard and, at the same time, the growth of consumption, in particular, of dry building mixes, whose main consumer is the B2C sector," said Moose. "Meanwhile in Europe, wallboard is being increasingly used for partitions in individual building more than in Belarus."

Meanwhile, the demand for gypsum wallboard from the population has intensified, according to Babitsky. "The consumption of wallboard is increasing due to the growth in framed-monolithic housing in Belarus. During the last two years, the consumption growth was 20%. It smoothes the fall in demand from the commercial sector," said Babitsky. He added that another negative factor on the Belarusian market is the increased competition on the part of Russian players because of the Russian Ruble devaluation and the Russian wallboard market narrowing. Russia's wallboard production is around 600Mm²/yr, while consumption is 250Mm². As such, exports to Belarus have increased.

Belgips plans to develop new products for sale on the domestic and export markets. According to Gubanova, the company is considering entry into Lithuania and Latvia.

Belarus: According to Volma's chairman of the board of directors, Yuri Goncharov, a contract with Germany's Grenzebach for the supply of modernisation equipment for the Belgips plant in Minsk has been concluded. The plant will be operational by the middle of 2015.

Under presidential decree No.34, which was signed on 16 January 2014, Volma was required to invest Euro43m to modernise the Belgips plant by 1 July 2018, including Euro24.7m by 30 June 2016. Within the funding, Volma had to transfer at least Euro2.5m to Belgips. "We will meet the investment project deadline, " Goncharov noted.

According to local media, Belgips' business is being threatened by multiple factors. The supply volumes to Russia haven't changed, but the product prices have fallen by 20 - 25%. There's also a negative effect on Belgips' position by the Polish companies that, according to Goncharov, offer their products on the Belarusian market at much cheaper prices than their domestic ones. There are also challenges regarding the procurement of raw materials.

In response, Volma plans to improve the quality of products through modernisation of the operating facilities. It will also decrease its prices. However, according to Goncharov, prices cannot get much lower. Volma also plans to improve its raw materials supply chain via imports. Goncharov expects to see Belgips in profit in 2015.

Belarus: A new gypsum plant will be commissioned by Volma Corporation in the town of Gatovo, Minsk district in 2018.

Volma plans to construct a new gypsum plant in the town of Gatovo, Minsk. The new plant will produce 500,000Mm²/yr gypsum partition blocks, 100,000t/yr of dry construction mixes and 30Mm²/yr of gypsum wallboard. Construction is due for completion in 2018.

Volma also plans to modernise the existing Belgips plant in Minsk to increase its production capacity of gypsum wallboard to 10Mm²/yr. The upgrades are expected to be complete in 2016.

The projects will have a combined investment of Euro43m.

Belarus: Russian gypsum producer Volma plans to explore the city of Mozyr in Belarus for a new source of raw gypsum.

"The head of Volma Corporation is going to search for gypsum deposits in Mozyr. He believes that the deposits rich in sodium chloride might also be rich in gypsum. The company has quarries in Ukraine and brings gypsum from there. It would be good if they found this important raw material in Belarus," said chairman of the State Property Committee, Georgy Kuznetsov.

As part of Volma's recent acquisition of Belarus' Belgips, Volma pledged to upgrade Belgips' production facilities and construct a plant to produce gypsum materials in the village of Gatovo, Minsk District. The investment agreement provides that at least Euro43m should be invested in Belgips by 1 July 2018.

Belarus / Russia: Belarus-based Belgips was sold to Russia's Volma Corporation in accordance with Belarus President's Decree No 34 'Concerning public joint stock venture Belgips.' The decree was passed on 16 January 2014.

The decree provides for selling 1.98m Belarus-owned shares of Belgips, 99.5% of the authorised capital of the company, to Volma at a market price that was in effect on 1 April 2012, without holding an auction or a contest.

The deal was conditioned on Volma Corporation signing an investment agreement with Belarus. The investment agreement provides for the upgrade of Belgips' production facilities and construction of a plant to produce gypsum-based building materials in the village of Gatovo, Minsk District. In line with the document, the new facilities are to be constructed on a step-by-step basis simultaneously with the development, evaluation and approval of the necessary project documentation at every phase of the works.

The investment agreement provides that at least Euro43m will be invested by 1 July 2018. Euro24.7m of that amount is to be transferred to the Belarusian company by 30 June 2016. The investment will be used to upgrade the existing production facilities and to construct the new plant.

The gypsum wallboard production line is to be modernised within two years and its capacity increased to 10Mm2/yr. Apart from that, the plant to produce gypsum-based building materials in the village of Gatovo is to be built and commissioned by 1 July 2018. The plant will manufacture up to 500,000m2/yr of gypsum partition blocks, 100,000t/yr of dry mixes and 30Mm2/yr of gypsum wallboard. No jobs will be cut before 1 July 2018.

The Minsk City Council will earmark a land plot for Belgips to build and maintain the facilities stipulated by the investment project. The land plot will be provided without an auction and a 99-year lease agreement will be signed. The lease agreement on the land plot at Kozlova Street will be extended utill 1 July 2019.

The investors will not be able to use the shares of the Belarusian company at their discretion until they fulfill the obligations stipulated by the investment agreement. If the investors fail to fulfill the obligations, Belarus reserves the right to take back the shares on a non-repayable basis.

Belarus: The Belarusian government has approved a decision to sell its entire 99.5% stake in OJSC Belgips to Russia's Volma Corporation according to Architecture and Construction Minister Anatoly Nichkasov. At a press conference reported upon by Russian News Agency Interfax, Nichkasov added that the government will sell its stake of the wallboard and gypsum partition block producer for to US$7m.

"This topic has been considered at the government level and it was approved in principle by the presidential administration. At the request of Russian company Volma, the government stake will be transferred to it once preparations of the investment contract are finished," the minister said. The sale is expected to be finalised in the third quarter of 2013.

The government intends to modernise Belgips' existing wallboard plant in Minsk, which was originally commissioned in 1948, and to build a new plant outside of Minsk with the sale. In addition, the sale will carry the agreement that the Volma will supply raw gypsum to the company at a reduced cost.