Gypsum industry news

Uzbekistan: Germany’s Knauf has increased the production capacity of its Bukhara wallboard plant by 40% to 33.5Mm²/yr. This follow an investment of Euro16m in mid-2018, according to the Uzbekistan National News Agency. Knauf was previously reported to be considering building another gypsum wallboard plant in the country.

Australia: Ord Minnett, a financial services company, estimates that Boral could pay as little as US$0.5bn to buy the other half of USG-Boral, the joint venture it runs with USG. The financial company has made the forecast following the on-going acquisition of USG by Germany’s Knauf, according to the Australian newspaper. It believes that Boral is in a strong position given falling value of the joint venture and problems with Knauf’s geographical asset base following its purchase.

Switzerland: Sika’s sales grew by 13.7% year-on-year to Euro6.3bn in 2018 in local currencies. It reported above-average growth rates in Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, US, Indonesia, India, China, and in its Global Business segment.

“With 11 new factories, an additional national subsidiary and four acquisitions, we have invested a great deal in our supply chain in the past year so that we can benefit from the growth in global construction markets and further expand our market position,” said chief executive officer (CEO) Paul Schuler.

New Zealand: Germany’s Knauf and US-based USG have applied to the Commerce Commission asked for clearance for the two companies to merge. USG is active in New Zealand through its 50% interest in USG Boral Building Products, which supplies gypsum wallboard, suspended ceiling components and other building materials. Knauf is active in the import and supply of products used for modular suspended ceilings and insulation in New Zealand. The proposed merger is also to be assessed by competition authorities in several jurisdictions including Australia, USA and Singapore.

US: The Gypsum Association (GA) has released the 22nd edition of its GA-600-2018 Fire Resistance and Sound Control Design Manual. Revised on a three-year cycle, GA-600 has been referenced by the model building codes as a source of fire-resistive designs for more than 40 years. The 2018 edition contains more than 140 new systems that supplement existing designs for walls and partitions, floor-ceiling systems, area separation firewalls and other assemblies.

GA-600 is currently referenced by the International Building Code, the National Fire Protection Association Codes (NFPA 703 and NFPA 5000), as well as many state and local jurisdictions in the US and Canada as a source document for fire-resistance and sound-control rated designs that incorporate gypsum board in a variety of building systems.

UK: British Gypsum has signed a five-year contract with PD Ports to process its natural gypsum imports. The deal will bring raw materials from Europe into the country via Teesport every two weeks where it will be stored in a new bulk storage unit. The gypsum will then be dispatched by rail to British Gypsum’s plants at Kirkby Thore in Cumbria and Sherburn-In-Elmet in Yorkshire. No value for the deal has been disclosed.

US: GMS’s half-year wallboard sales have risen due to its acquisition of Canada’s Titan on 1 June 2018 and rising prices. Its wallboard sales rose by 14% year-on-year to US$652m in the half year to 31 October 2018, from US$573m in the same period in 2017. Overall, the wallboard distributor’s net sales increased by 25% to US$1.61bn.