Gypsum industry news

US: CertainTeed plans to spend US$1.1m towards installing recycling equipment at its Palatka gypsum wallboard plant in Florida. The upgrade will increasing the recycled content of its wallboard products manufactured at the unit by 18,000t/yr while also reducing the site’s CO₂ emissions by 2260t/yr.

The new recycling equipment at the Palatka plant will work by grinding the waste gypsum and waste paper down into fine particles, allowing the plant to capture and internally recycle the materials, which are sorted and then reintroduced to the production process at the plant. The kit will be powered by electricity and will replace older machines currently powered by diesel, lowering the plant’s Scope 1 Emissions from its operations. Additionally, by consuming more recycled gypsum, the plant will become less reliant on feedstock that is shipped to the site from external sources, allowing the unit to also reduce Scope 3 Emissions associated with transporting the feedstock.

Jay Bachmann, the Vice President and General Manager of CertainTeed Interior Products Group, said, “The new technology in Palatka will allow us to increase the recycled content in our products, reduce our carbon CO₂ at the plant, and strengthen our operations at a time of unprecedented consumer demand for gypsum wallboard in the south-eastern US.”

The investment at the Palatka plant follows similar investments that will increase the recycled content of wallboard made at CertainTeed’s wallboard plants in Silver Grove in Kentucky and Nashville in Arkansas. Parent company Saint-Gobain continues to roll out its global ‘Grow and Impact’ strategy, which includes reducing waste and increasing recycling efforts at its manufacturing sites.

US: CertainTeed plans to establish a new gypsum logistics facility in Jacksonville, Florida. The Saint-Gobain subsidiary plans to integrate a terminal dock operation on the St Johns River with environmental restoration of the riverside at an additional cost of US$70m. The site previously belonged to Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation until 1978.Construction is due to begin in 2022 and reach completion before 2025. Once operational, the dock will be equipped with a bulkhead, a conveyor, an unloading ramp, truck staging areas and a small office. The site will employ an estimated 32 people.

Vice president and general managerJay Bachmann “We are deeply grateful to the City of Jacksonville for their support of our new logistics facility on the St Johns River, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Greenfield to ensure the responsible stewardship of this Superfund site.” He added “This project will return a heavily contaminated Superfund site to productive use, creating dozens of full-time jobs and strengthening our company’s ability to serve our customers.”

US: Continental Building Products says it has been confronting a ‘sluggish’ new home construction market in the second quarter of 2019. Jay Bachmann, president and chief executive officer (CEO), said that the company was expecting the market to recover in the second half of the year and its improvement programme to reduce costs. Its net sales fell by 4% year-on-year to US$246m in the first half of 2019 from US$256m in the same period in 2018. Its net income dropped by 34% to US$28.8m from US$35.5m. Its gypsum wallboard volumes fell slightly by to 123Mm².

The wallboard producer also said that the shutdown of its Buchanan plant in New York due to mechanical failure might cause a boost operating income and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of up to US$2m once an insurance claim is settled. The plant was shut from January 2019 to 15 March 2019. The company increased production at its plants in Silver Grove, Kentucky and Palatka, Florida to offset a portion of the lost production from the Buchanan plant.

US: Beijing New Building Material (BNBM), Taishan Gypsum and Taian Taishan Plasterboard have reached a settlement agreement of up to US$27.7m in one of its on-going legal cases related to alleged defective gypsum wallboard. This agreement is with not more than 498 plantiffs connected to the Amorin case via the Southern District Court of Florida. Following receipt of the payment the plantiffs have agreed to waive all liabilities with respect to Taishan Gypsum.

US: National Gypsum is considering reopening a gypsum wallboard plant in either Tampa, Florida or Wilmington, North Carolina. The wallboard producer plans to make its final decision late in 2018, according to the Greater Wilmington Business Journal. The Tampa plant was shut in 2008 and the Wilmington plant stopped operations in 2009. The company is planning to expand its presence in the south-east of the country.

US: USG plans to upgrade its Jacksonville gypsum wallboard plant in Florida. As part of the investment, a new production line will be added to manufacture USG’s Securock ExoAir 430 panels. Investments will be made at the site to improve overall plant efficiency, including upgrades to modernise process mill equipment.

Construction and plant updates are expected to be completed by the end of 2018. The company also plans to add approximately 20 new jobs as a result. The addition of the high-speed, automated production line in Jacksonville is intended to allow USG to distribute Securock ExoAir 430 to more customers throughout the US and Canada.

US: Continental Building Products' Palatka wallboard plant in Florida has endured Hurricane Irma without any serious damage to the facility. The site is about 30 miles inland of St Augustine and it employs over 125 workers. It closed for the storm to allow employees to prepare themselves and their families. However, it didn't lose power and 'sustained essentially no known damage'. Continental Building Products has announced it will donate US$25,000 to the American Red Cross to support the relief effort.

USA: GMS Inc. has announced its acquisition of Olympia Building Supplies, LLC, a leading supplier of wallboard and related construction products including steel studs, joint compound, finishing products, insulation and other specialty products to the South Florida market. Founded in 2008, Olympia has grown rapidly from a single location in Pompano, Florida to the current network of three branch locations located in Pompano, Miami and West Palm Beach. Olympia will continue to operate under its current name, which 'has garnered significant respect and brand recognition among professional contractors in its markets. The entire team will join GMS, including its General Manager, Roger Shingler, an established and respected industry veteran.'

Shingler said, "Combining forces with GMS is the right next step in our growth trajectory. GMS shares our passion for customer service and our commitment to providing high-quality products. We have successfully expanded our business to become a leading specialty distributor in Pompano, Miami and West Palm Beach, Florida. We are excited to further improve our ability to serve new and existing customers with the strong support of GMS' national scale, operational expertise, and strong financial position. Being a part of the GMS family is the perfect fit for us."

Chris Doyle, Vice President of the Southeastern division of GMS, added. "We are very happy to welcome the Olympia team to our company. Olympia is an excellent strategic fit for GMS with its broad product offering and loyal customer base in attractive markets. The acquisition of these three established locations in South Florida provides a very complementary addition to our strong existing positons in Central and Northern Florida. Furthermore, the highly seasoned team is driven by success. We look forward to integrating these assets onto our platform and remain vigilant in our pursuit to further strengthen GMS' leadership positions in the Southeast and nationally for years to come."

GMS Inc has also acquired Steven Kempf Building Material Company (SKBM) headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. SKBM is a supplier of drywall, ceilings, steel studs and related construction products in the greater Philadelphia metro area and was founded in 1994. SKBM services large and small projects in the commercial and multi-family residential end markets. With a 132,000 sq ft state-of-the-art facility, it has an operating history of two decades and its entire team will join the company, including its founder and president Steven F. Kempf.

GMS operates a national network of distribution centers across the United States. GMS' extensive product offering of wallboard, suspended ceilings systems, or ceilings, and complementary interior construction products is designed to provide a comprehensive one-stop-shop for our core customer, the interior contractor who installs these products in commercial and residential buildings.

US: USG has taken ownership of about 180 acres in northwest Citrus County, Florida, to warehouse synthetic gypsum from the nearby Progress Energy power plant. Company spokesman Mark Joseph said that USG plans to store the gypsum until it is transported to company plants in North America.

USG received a trustee's deed on 14 September 2011 from the City National Bank of Florida, which owns about 400 acres near Power Line Road. According to the deed USG is the sole beneficiary of the trust.

Joseph said that the company's plans do not go further than storage of the material in warehouses at present. He added that the company has no plans at this time to manufacture drywall at the Citrus County site. "We took possession of the land to make it a storage facility," he said.

Joseph finished by saying that economic conditions require nothing more now than someplace to store and ship the material. However, he wouldn't rule out expansion, "We don't know what the future will bring... The Florida market is not the best right now for housing."