Gypsum industry news
New Zealand: Winstone Wallboards says that it successfully started a test run on the new production line at its new Tauriko gypsum wallboard plant in mid-May 2023. In a statement general manager David Thomas said “The team successfully put ‘slurry on paper’ and ran board down the line and, beyond our initial plan, through the dryer.” He added the company was confident that it would be producing wallboard in the second half of 2023.
Japan: Chiyoda-Ute is preparing to launch a gypsum board product, Chiyoda Circular Gypsum Board, from June 2023 that uses 100% recycled gypsum. The company says it is the first product of its kind in the world to use 100% waste gypsum board collected from construction sites. Manufacturing will also be carbon neutral through the use of wood chips to heat the plant’s boiler and electricity supplied from renewable sources.
Japan: Yoshino Gypsum has developed a new gypsum wallboard fixing method called ‘Smart JG’ that uses adhesive and a magnet. It is intended to replace the usual installation method using power tools, screws and nails. The Smart JG method uses a special tape-like solid adhesive ‘JG02’ and a special tool ‘Super Mag Chuck’ to fix boards to the iron base and layer them. Notably, this new approach does not use screws and does not have staple marks on the surface of the board allowing for more decorative applications. This method is also quieter as power tools are not used. The patent for ‘Smart JG’ is currently pending.
US: USG has announced a strategic partnership with construction robotics company Canvas. The agreement intends to bring together USG’s expertise in building materials and Canvas’ experience in on-site robotics, notably in gypsum wallboard finishing. The companies hope to address industry issues such as labour shortages, schedule and budget overruns, quality inconsistencies and productivity and safety issues through their collaboration.
Canvas introduced its wallboard finishing machine to contractors in 2022. It can apply both level 5 and level 4 wallboard finishes. In contrast to manual application, the robot applies a single layer of joint compound over wet tape and telescopes to around 4.5m to do the vast majority of the work at height. It also reduces repetitive motion injuries and captures the majority of the dust produced by sanding.
Jonathan Hughes, USG’s Vice President of Estimating at Daley’s Drywall & Taping, said “As an early adopter of the Canvas machine, we see three clear benefits of the system: 1) it makes work safer for our tapers by eliminating dangerous dust, minimising repetitive motion injuries and reducing accidental falls; 2) the finish is amazing and consistent; and 3) the machine makes the work much faster, improving our productivity metrics and making us much more competitive.”
In March 2023 Canvas said that construction equipment manufacturer, Hilti, would now produce its robotic machines.
US: Georgia-Pacific has appointed Andy Konieczka as Executive Vice President of Building Products. He will report to the company's president and chief executive officer (CEO) Christian Fischer.
Konieczka previously worked as the president of Structural Panels at Georgia Pacific since 2019. He has worked for Koch Industries and subsidiaries, including Georgia-Pacific, since 1992. In 2006, he joined Georgia-Pacific, holding strategy, optimisation and management roles in wood, fibre and building products. Konieczka serves as a member of the board of directors for the APA - The Engineered Wood Association.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: The shareholders assembly of state-owned power company RiTE Ugljevik has approved the signing of contracts for the sale of gypsum and coal with Beijing New Building Materials (BNBM) Ugljevik. The project intends to build a 40Mm2/yr gypsum wallboard plant and it has a budget of Euro50m, according to the Sarajevo Times. RiTE Ugljevik previously agreed to supply 250,000t/yr of flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) to the proposed wallboard plant.
India: Saint-Gobain has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Vibrant Energy, a subsidiary of Macquarie Asset Management's Green Investment Group (MAM-GIG), to provide wind and solar electricity to six local sites. The 20-year PPA will start in 2024 and bring the company’s national renewable electricity share to 65% in 2025. Under the agreement, Vibrant Energy will provide Saint-Gobain with 189GWhr/yr of renewable electricity. The company says that it is on target to achieve 100% renewable electricity in India by 2030 by replacing fossil fuels with biomass, using waste heat recovery and other measures.
Saint-Gobain India operates 76 manufacturing plants in the country including four gypsum wallboard units.
US: Eagle Materials reported sales of US$2.1bn in 2022, up by 15% year-on-year from 2021 levels. The producer's earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 19% to US$782m. Its light materials sales, including gypsum wallboard, rose by 22% to US$981m. Sales volumes of gypsum wallboard rose by 4% to 87.8Mm3, while it raised prices by 17% to US$8.46/m3.
President and CEO Michael Haack said "Looking ahead, we anticipate continued attractive fundamentals in our markets, despite headwinds relating to higher interest rates and affordability constraints in single-family residential construction. Among the favourable demand factors we expect will affect our results in future periods are projected funding increases for infrastructure projects and healthy demand for heavy industrial projects and multi-family residential construction. We remain well-positioned to capitalise on these conditions, given our geographical footprint across the (Central) US Heartland and fast-growing Sun Belt (Southern US) and our financial strength and flexibility."
Canada: USG Corporation subsidiary Canadian Gypsum Company (CGC) plants to restart operations at its 2Mt/yr-capacity Little Narrows gypsum quarry in Nova Scotia. Construction Canada News has reported that the company expects the commissioning to take until early-mid 2026. Work includes the construction of a new crusher and conveyor systems, as well as a dock and ship loader, and the purchase of new mining equipment, including drills, loaders, excavators and haul trucks. When operational, the quarry will ship gypsum to markets along the east coast of North America, including Montréal, Québec.
USG Corporation CEO Chris Griffin said “This investment will cement our long-term commitment to the Canadian market and our dedication to providing the best experience for our customers across North America. CGC has a proud history of operations at the Little Narrows gypsum quarry, which was active from 1954 to 2016. We are deeply connected to Little Narrows and Cape Breton, and thrilled to return to drive economic growth and support the local community as a neighbour and partner.”
Spain: Etex subsidiary Pladur says that its Gelsa gypsum wallboard plant produced 25Mm2 of gypsum wallboard during 2022. This corresponds to volume growth of 30% year-on-year. The Heraldo de Aragón newspaper has reported that the 2022 figure corresponds to 83% of its operational capacity of 30Mm2/yr.
The Gelsa gypsum wallboard plant reportedly uses 2 - 4% recycled gypsum in its operations. This corresponds to 4000 - 6000t/yr of gypsum, in line with its own rate of production waste generation. The plant aims to recycle 30,000 - 40,000t/yr of gypsum in 2030.
