Gypsum industry news

Russia: According to Interfax, Bratskekogaz, which is controlled by Rosneft subsidiary Itera, has concluded a contract to supply Knauf Gips Baikal with compressed natural gas from the Bratskoye field in Irkutsk.

Bratskekogaz has signed agreements to supply compressed natural gas to Knauf Gips Baikal, which has a current demand of 25Mm³/yr. The implementation period is 2016 – 2017. It was reported previously that Knauf CIS was in talks with Itera to supply compressed natural gas to Knauf Gips Baikal to reduce production costs. Knauf Gips Baikal currently operates on liquefied gas delivered from Krasnoyarsk, Tyumen and Omsk, which is 260% more expensive than natural gas delivered by pipeline. This has made it difficult to compete with imported gypsum wallboard and dry construction mixes from China and South Korea.

Knauf will invest US$1.5m in the project to switch to compressed natural gas. The money will be used to build a gas acceptance facility and rebuild the burners and pipelines. The supplier is responsible for building the compressor station and supplying the compressed natural gas tankers for transportation.