Gypsum industry news

Iran: A gypsum exporter has despatched a trial shipment of 50 containers of ground gypsum by rail from Qom to Yiwu, China. Trend News Agency has reported that the trial is the outcome of successful negotiations between China, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in April 2024. The 15-day train journey passes through all four countries. The containers will transfer trains at the Etrek rail terminal in Turkmenistan, in order to circumvent issues of rail gauge differences between countries.

Iran: The government of Hormozgan province invested US$455,000 in surveys for gypsum and other minerals in the first quarter of the 2025 financial year. Trend News has reported that Hormozgan Province presently boasts 300 mines.

India: The government has imposed an anti-dumping duty on imports of calcined gypsum from China, Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The Press Trust of India newspaper has reported that the duty will remain in place for the duration of the five-year period ending on 31 December 2026. The Commerce Ministry said that the duty’s aim is to guard local suppliers against the impacts of below-cost imports in accordance with World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations.

Oman: The World’s leading gypsum-exporting country, the Sultanate of Oman, has recorded gypsum exports of over 9.0Mt in 2019 to its main recipient countries in Asia and South/East Africa. Omani producer Zawawi Minerals has estimated increased export volumes and prices by at least 6% to US$13.3/t from US$12.5/t. Its main competitor, Iran, whose gypsum exports were 4.3Mt in 2019, is set to export no gypsum in 2020 following the US-imposed executive order of 10 January 2020 banning mining in the country.

Iran: Azerbaijan’s Matanat-A gypsum plant is estimated to cost around US$10m. The head of mining and industrial organization of Semnan Province, Behrouz Asfadi, said that production at the plant was expected to start in the ‘near future,’ according to the Trend News Agency. Jafar Sarghini, the deputy minister of industries, mining and trade, added that Matanat-A is already using a gypsum mine in northern Iran and the plant is expected to be located nearby.

Oman: Oman exported 6.76Mt of gypsum from January to November 2017. This compared to 4.86Mt from Thailand, according to Ramachandran, Director of USG Boral Zawawi Gypsum, an Oman-based producer and exporter of gypsum. This potentially marks a change to the gypsum export market in 2016 when Thailand exported 6.29Mt and Oman exported 5.6Mt. Other leading exporters in 2016 included Spain, Iran and Mexico.

Iran: Azerbaijani company Matanat-A plans to build a gypsum wallboard plant in Iran according to comments made by Mohsen Pak Ayeen, the Iranian ambassador to Baku, reported upon by the Trend News Agency. Jafar Sarghini, Iran's deputy industry minister for mining and mineral industries, said that the company has obtained a license to operate in the country.

Iran: Ammar Bashare, the director of the Middle East trade development section of Saint-Gobain, has expressed his company's desire to invest in the gypsum plaster industry in Semnan province. He made the comments in a meeting with Ali Asghar Joma'ei, the head of the province's Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mine and Agriculture, as reported by the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Bashare said that Saint-Gobain is ready to invest in the local plaster industry and he hoped that his company could have more cooperation with local Iranian companies when the economic sanctions are lifted.

Joma'ei said that around 40 plaster producer companies are active in Semnan province and that foreign investors should bring modern technology into Iran. He also noted the readiness of a number of investors from Turkey and Germany in the industry. He added that the province is ready for 100% foreign investment or joint venture partnerships.

Semnan produces 40,000t/day of plaster. It exports plaster to Iraq, Turkmenistan and India.