Gypsum industry news

Turkmenistan: Ak Bulut despatched its first shipment of gypsum wallboard to Georgia on 2 April 2024. Trend News has reported that Ak Bulut says that the market entry signals the innovation of the Turkmen building materials sector. The producer commissioned its 4Mm²/yr Dostluk gypsum wallboard plant in December 2023.

Georgia: Knauf inaugurated a new Euro30m plaster plant in Georgia on 13 October 2022, Sarke News has reported.

Georgian Minister of Economy Levan Davitashvili said that Georgia's current 'high economic growth' is partly due to Knauf's continued investment in its gypsum activities in the country. Davitashvili noted that Knauf has trained 1000 people at its construction industry training centre since 2018.

The minister said that Knauf continually raises the Georgian building materials industry to 'new standards.' He added "The professional knowledge brought by the company and the technologies introduced by it are also very important."

Georgia/Azerbaijan: The value of imported construction materials from Azerbaijan to Georgia fell by 50% from January 2015 to September 2015, according to a report issued by the National Statistics Office of Georgia.

The country imported 64,870t of gypsum plaster and other anhydrites worth a total of US$8.7m from Azerbaijan during the period. Further, the volume of imported construction materials from Azerbaijan to Georgia decreased by 39.7% compared to the same period in 2014. Officials noted that Georgia imported 107,630t of construction materials, worth US$18.5m, from Azerbaijan during the period. Construction materials accounted for 2.2% of the total volume of Azerbaijani exports to Georgia in the first nine months of 2015. In total, Georgia imported US$392m in products from Azerbaijan in January 2015 – September 2015, or 13.7% less than in the same period in 2014.

Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan exported 36,920t of gypsum in the first half of 2015, some 40.9% less than in the same period of 2014 as reported by the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. This was confirmed by the National Statistics Office of Georgia, which receives 100% of the Azerbaijani exports of gypsum.

According to the official figures of Azerbaijan, the declared revenue from gypsum sales abroad totalled US$566,580. However, Georgia has recorded US$5.1m of gypsum imports from Azerbaijan. Georgia has also reported that US$1.38m of gypsum was imported from Azerbaijan in July 2015. Azerbaijani customs issued the goods at the price of US$15.3/t, while in Georgia it was priced at US$138/t. In the first half of 2014, Azerbaijani gypsum was quoted in Georgia at the price of US$170/t.

In the first half of 2015, Azerbaijani gypsum production increased by 1.3% year-on-year to 92,200t, according to the State Statistics Committee. Azerbaijan also imports gypsum from Iran (860t) and Turkey (6.6t). One tonne of imported gypsum is registered for customs duties and taxes at the price of US$52.9/t, three times more expensive than in the first quarter of 2014.

Azerbaijan: Gypsum exporters in Azerbaijan deliberately reduced export prices of gypsum by a factor of 10 in 2014 to evade tax, according to research by the Turan Information Agency conducted on data from Azerbaijan and Georgia state sources.

According to the research, the export and import values for gypsum failed to match between Azerbaijan and Georgia in 2014, leading to a US$24.1m tax shortfall. Gypsum exported from Azerbaijan was valued at US$17/t but gypsum imported into Georgia was valued at US$170/t. Almost all export of gypsum of Azerbaijan appeared to go to Georgia according to data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia. Turan dubbed gypsum producers in Azerbaijan as the 'Gypsum Mafia'.

The main producers of plaster in Azerbaijan are Garant Holding and Gilan Holding. Both companies are located close to gypsum deposits in the Goranboy region. Gilan Holding has a joint venture with the German company Knauf for the production of wallboard.

Azerbaijan: Export volumes of construction materials produced in Azerbaijan to Georgia rose by 13.5% in 2014, according to the report of the National Statistical Service of Georgia. Some 49,530t of gypsum wallboard and other anhydrite worth US$8.48m was exported from Azerbaijan to Georgia in January-May 2014, up from 41,080t worth US$7.47m during the same period of 2013.

Abkhazia/Saudi Arabia: Grenzebach BSH GmbH has ordered two Gebr. Pfeiffer vertical roller mills, one MPS 140 GC and one MPS 180 GC, for gypsum grinding-calcining for its new works in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia and in Saudi Arabia.

The two vertical roller mills are designed to attain throughput rates of 16t/hr and 35t/hr, respectively. They are slated for delivery in the first and second quarters of 2014.