Gypsum industry news

US: CatchMark Timber Trust and its Triple T joint venture have amended their wood supply agreement with Georgia-Pacific to achieve “market-based pricing on timber sales.” Under the amended deal, Triple T also will be able to increase reimbursement for extended haul distances, sell timber to other third parties and expand its ability to sell large timberland parcels to third party buyers. The supply agreement between Triple T and Georgia-Pacific has also been extended by two years from 2029 to 2031, with optimised harvest volume obligations to enhance and preserve long-term asset value. Triple T has paid Georgia-Pacific US$145m to make these changes.

CatchMark invests in 1.1 million acres of East Texas timberlands through Triple T and acts as the general partner of the venture on behalf of a consortium of institutional investors. Georgia-Pacific produces paper-based consumer products and building materials, including gypsum wallboard.

Canada: Georgia-Pacific spokesperson Rick Kimble has confirmed that the mothballed wallboard liner plant at Thorold, Ontario will be dismantled. The plant was idled in January 2014 due to excess capacity. Kimble said the company has acquired a demolition permit from the city and Georgia-Pacific has contracted Canadian firm Delsan AIM, headquartered in Montreal, to decommission the plant.

Delsan said on its website that it plans to carry out the demolition in an environmentally-sound and sensitive manner. "Delsan AIM recognises the historical significance that this paper mill once represented to the community and we are eager to do our part in helping this beautiful area 'prepare for the future,' " the company said.

Canada: Wallboard prices have risen in western Canada following the implementation of antidumping tariffs of up to 277% on gypsum wallboard from the US. Builders and suppliers fear the ruling could disrupt the supply of the product for construction projects, including the rebuilding campaign in Fort McMurray in Alberta, according to the Canadian Press news agency.

The Canada Border Services Agency imposed preliminary tariffs on 6 September 2016 on US wallboard into Canada for use in British Colombia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Yukon and Northwest Territories. The provisional duty ranges from 125% on imports from CertainTeed Gypsum and Ceiling, 105% on Georgia-Pacific Gypsum, 144% on USG and 277% on all other importers.

US: For the second consecutive day on 17 February 2015, fire-fighters responded to Georgia-Pacific Gypsum's plant in Newington, North Hampshire, for a partial roof collapse at a large storage area used to house gypsum for making wallboard, said assistant fire chief Jeffrey LeDuc. Fire-fighters were called to the plant just before 7am, when a structural engineer reported that the roof had collapsed under the heavy weight of deep snow, LeDuc said. Fortunately, the building had been evacuated on 16 February 2015 when a worker heard some kind of sound from the roof. LeDuc said that after the initial evacuation, utilities had been shut off to avoid further possible damage to the building.

US/Canada: Georgia-Pacific plans to 'idle' one wallboard plant in Caledonia, Ontario and one wallboard plant in West Memphis, Tennessee in early 2014. Eric Abercrombie, a spokesperson for Georgia-Pacific, attributed the decision to production optimisation and a slow recovery in the building materials market.

"We are doing this because of market conditions and the fact we've just acquired new capacity through a merger," stated Abercrombie to local media. 60 employees will be affected at the Caledonia plant and 39 employees at the West Memphis plant.

In early 2013, Georgia-Pacific acquired four new gypsum wallboard plants when it took over Memphis-based Temple-Inland Building Products from International Paper. That deal, worth US$750m, added 1800 employees to Georgia-Pacific and 16 production facilities.

US: More than a dozen lawsuits alleging price-fixing on the part of major manufacturers of wallboard have been consolidated in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The location was chosen as most of the parties are located in the area and a majority of the parties advocated for consolidation in that district. US District Judge Michael Baylson will handle the case.

"From at least September 2011 to the present the defendants, manufacturers of gypsum board, combined and conspired to fix and raise the prices at which they sold gypsum board in the United States beginning with large and coordinated price increases that all became effective on or about 1 or 2 January 2012," according to the complaint filed in one case originating in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Janicki Drywall versus CertainTeed.

Major manufacturers of wallboard have annual sales of more than US$5bn, according to the complaint and the defendants are seeking treble damages. The defendants in the suit account for more than 99% of wallboard sold in North America, according to the complaint. They are USG, National Gypsum, CertainTeed, Georgia-Pacific, American Gypsum, Lafarge, Temple-Inland and PABCO.

In a previous status conference for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania cases, Steven Bizar of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney was named as interim liaison counsel for the defence, while H Laddie Montague Jr of Berger & Montague had been named interim liaison counsel for the plaintiffs.

US: Georgia-Pacific has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire the assets of the Temple-Inland Building Products business from International Paper. The purchase price is US$750m and the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. The acquisition is anticipated to close in the first quarter of 2013.

As part of the transaction International Paper will sell 16 production facilities including four gypsum wallboard facilities, five solid wood mills, four particleboard plants, two medium-density fibreboard plants and one fibreboard factory. The sites are located across eight US states, mainly in the southeastern and eastern parts of the country.

"These high-quality assets with teams of talented employees are strategically located near large, growing regions of building products customers and will fit well into our existing operations," said Jim Hannan, Georgia-Pacific chief executive officer and president. "This will allow us to expand our geographic footprint and enhance our service to new and existing customers."

Canada: Georgia-Pacific has idled its Cape Breton gypsum mine in Nova Scotia due to the weak US dollar and low demand for wallboard in the US. The company is laying off 34 workers at the site whilst retaining eight others as a skeleton staff.

Georgia-Pacific told its workers on 2 December 2011 that it will indefinitely idle operations at its Sugar Camp quarry. "This is not a closure or a shutdown; it's an indefinite idle," said company spokesman Eric Abercrombie. "This is purely a business decision to idle the facility based on the North American market conditions and the weaker US dollar."

Georgia-Pacific had 73 employees in Cape Breton until the autumn of 2011. The Sugar Camp operation has been open since 1962. In December 2011 USG permanently closed the Fundy Gypsum mine in Hantsport, Nova Scotia.