Gypsum industry news

France: Belgium-based Etex has acquired a majority stake in offsite housing construction company e-Loft. The company employs 180 people and makes products in modular residential and other custom-designed buildings using its ‘3D wood’ building technology. It will join the group’s New Ways division. The division develops sustainable, industrialised and modular construction solutions.

Etex chief executive officer Paul Van Oyen said, “We are very pleased to welcome e-Loft into our New Ways division and enthusiastic about the growth opportunities that this strategic acquisition offers to both of our companies. The addition of e-Loft to our global team of experienced lightweight and modular construction businesses further reinforces our ambition to become a leader in future-focussed, sustainable building solutions.”

Australia: Belgium-based Etex has agreed to buy Knauf Australia from Germany-based Knauf for an undisclosed sum. The company’s portfolio consists of three gypsum wallboard plants, located in Altona, Victoria, Matraville, New South Wales and Bundaberg, Queensland, and it employs over 300 people. The Australian newspaper has reported that Etex plans to treat the newly acquired asset as a going concern, in which it will retain existing staff, including management. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, with finalisation expected in early 2021.

Paul Van Oyen, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Etex said, “This transaction is a major milestone in the execution of our strategic roadmap initiated two years ago. Since then, we progressively exited non-core activities, such as the clay and concrete roof tiles business, that no longer fits with our portfolio. Our strategy is focused on being a leader in lightweight solutions and modular construction, offering sustainable, cost-effective, high-performing and inspiring building solutions to our customers. Plasterboards play a key role in such solutions, and we are looking forward to collaborating closely with our new colleagues to open up new opportunities for growth.”

Etex previously acquired Lafarge’s European and South American gypsum wallboard assets at the same time as Knauf acquired the entity now known as Knauf Australia from Lafarge in 2011. Knauf maintains a presence in the Australian gypsum wallboard sector via its partnership with Boral, concluded in October 2020.

Australia: Belgium-based Etex has hired financial services provider JP Morgan to help it buy Knauf’s Australian gypsum wallboard portfolio, valued at around US$293m. The Australian newspaper reports that Saint-Gobain and China National Building Material (CNBM) are also interested in the sale.

Knauf is divesting the assets to satisfy the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s fair play rules following its purchase of Boral’s stake in the USG-Boral gypsum wallboard joint venture for US$1.05bn. The companies have until September 2020 to finalise the transaction.

UK: Etex Building Performance recycled 14% its Siniat gypsum wallboard products in 2019, a UK gypsum wallboard recycling record. The company says that the figure exceeds both the UK average of 8% in 2019 and the industry target of 10% in 2020. It attributed the achievement to its “substantial investments in operational improvements to reuse waste gypsum, which can also be recycled.”

The improvements consisted of an upgrade to gypsum wallboard production at the company’s Ferrybridge plant in West Yorkshire and the addition of a new recycling facility at the site. Its planned new gypsum wallboard plant in Bristol will be able to produce wallboard using a higher proportion of recycled gypsum and source part of its water intake from rain. The producer has additionally secured a dedicated supply of post-consumer gypsum from construction sites across England and Wales via its subsidiary Crucible Gypsum Recycling. It said it decided to form the subsidiary after taking part in the European Commission’s Gypsum to Gypsum research project, which “showed the importance of controlling the quality of post-consumer material and re-orientating the industry for the recovery of waste at the end of a building's lifecycle.”

Head of environment and sustainability Steve Hemmings said, "Recovering waste gypsum makes business as well as environmental sense. The plasterboard industry traditionally relied on quarried gypsum or desulphurised gypsum – the latter is becoming less available as the UK switches to alternative energy sources. Recycling offers a greener future for construction, but it requires investment and coordination across the supply chain. We're investing early to make sure we have the capability and capacity to continue leading the UK's gypsum wallboard sector and to provide more sustainable solutions for our clients.”

UK: Belgium-based Etex has announced its acquisition of FSi Limited, a leading UK supplier of intumescent sealants and ablative-coated stonewool batts, which generated an operating profit of Euro22.0m in 2019. The new subsidiary produces its firestopping materials in Cowdenbeath, Fife, West Thurrock, Essex and Measham, Leicestershire, where it is headquartered.

The group said, “The move strengthens Etex’s ability to provide comprehensive lightweight construction solutions for clients through its building performance division, in particular complementing its Siniat and Promat brands, which provide plasterboard and passive fire protection systems respectively. The acquisition also supports Etex’s original equipment manufacturer (OEM) solutions for industrial clients through its industry division.”

Romania: Etex has proposed investing Euro6m at the Rovinari thermal power plant run by Oltenia Energy in order to secure supplies of flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) gypsum for its Turceni wallboard plant. It wants to build a desulphurisation unit at the power plant following falling energy production at the Turceni power plant, according to Economica. Etex is currently in negotiation with Oltenia Energy over the proposal.

UK: Matt Pullen, the managing director of British Gypsum, says that the company intends to loosen restrictions on wallboard sales in August 2020. “Whilst we continue to see high levels of demand, we have sufficient capacity to supply your wallboard requirements without formal supply restrictions,” said Pullen. He added that the company’s plaster manufacturing plants continue to, ‘operate consistently at maximum capability.’

Gypsum plaster-based products have been in short supply in the UK since the local coronavirus-related lockdown started in March 2020. The subsidiary of Saint-Gobain suspended operations in April 2020 and Knauf stopped production at its wallboard plants in the UK at the end of March 2020. British Gypsum reported in late May 2020 that its wallboard capacity was at ‘approximately’ 80% of pre-coronavirus pandemic levels following the scaling up of its ‘Covid-19 safe’ operations and distribution plan. Etex’s Siniat said it was ending product allocation controls in early July 2020.

Belgium: Etex’s net profit was Euro176m in 2019, a rise of 26% year-on-year from Euro140m in 2019. Sales crept up by 1.5% to Euro2.94bn from Euro2.90bn. Etex chief executive officer (CEO) Paul Van Oyen called 2019 an ‘outstanding year’ in which Etex ‘significantly increased its plasterboard volumes, driven by a strong market in several countries’ and reduced its debt by 43% to Euro331m, its lowest level since 2011. This was thanks to the sale of its UK and Portuguese tile roofing businesses.

Van Oyen’s announcement was overshadowed by the current circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak. “Today, my thoughts mainly go to all of our colleagues and their families worldwide, especially the ones who have been infected with the coronavirus,” he said. “Etex will not change its identity as a result of this crisis: our priority is and will always be the health and safety of our colleagues and stakeholders worldwide. We are determined keeping our business running, and to continue to Inspire ways of living.” Van Oyen also paid his respects to those within the company who have died of coronavirus.

Brazil: E2E, a Chile-based joint venture founded by Etex and Arauco, a diversified global company active in the forestry industry, has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire a majority stake in Tecverde Engenharia, a Brazilian building company specialised in wood-frame construction systems. The completion of the deal is subject to the approval of the Brazilian Competition Authority (CADE) and other customary conditions. No value for the transaction has been disclosed.

Tecverde uses a wood-frame construction systems that allows for nearly a full building to be fabricated in a climate-controlled factory and completed with the installation of wall panels during final assembly at the construction site. E2E combines Etex’s experience in plasterboard and fibre cement technology with Arauco’s knowledge of sustainable forest product solutions. The joint venture develops and manufactures complete construction solutions composed of panels, wooden interior structures and external boards.

UK: Belgian-based Etex has announced plans for a new gypsum wallboard plant in Portbury, near the Port of Bristol, to be commissioned in 2022. Its construction will cost Euro162m. Etex CEO Paul Van Oyen said the development ‘will strengthen our position in the UK – Europe’s largest plasterboard market – where there is a chronic housing shortage.’ Etex already serves the UK construction industry from its two gypsum plasterboard plants in Bristol and Ferrybridge.