Gypsum industry news

US: Georgia-Pacific made total investments worth US$2bn throughout 2023. Major capital expenditure (CAPEX) investments include its US$325m construction of its second Sweetwater gypsum wallboard plant in Texas.

Georgia-Pacific Gypsum president David Neal said "Georgia-Pacific is keenly focused on the future and committed to innovation and meeting the needs of our customers. The two [Sweetwater gypsum wallboard plant] operations combined will supply customers and distribution partners with more than 93Mm²/yr of gypsum wallboard each year and create more than 100 new jobs. This investment strengthens Georgia-Pacific's capacity to meet growing customer needs in Texas' residential, commercial and industrial construction markets."

Spain: Italy-based Fassa Bortolo has announced plans for its upcoming Tarancón gypsum wallboard plant in Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha. The producer says that it plans to invest Euro90m in the project. Local press has reported that the company plans to hire 200 new employees to work at the plant.

US: Georgia-Pacific will close its 60Mm²/yr Quanah gypsum wallboard plant in Texas on 1 March 2023. Local press has reported that the plant employs 166 people. Georgia-Pacific first announced its planned closure in 2020.

Romania: Grenzebach Romania has broken ground on its construction of its upcoming Iasi production centre. The equipment supplier plans for the centre to serve as a hub for its European building materials, glass and intralogistics activities. Grenzebach chief executive officer Steven Althaus said that the group is expanding to meet growing European demand in the sectors in which it operates, while also creating 100 new jobs for Romanians.

UK: Portugal-based Gypfor has agreed to sell its upcoming Newport gypsum wallboard plant to Germany-based Knauf. Gypfor began building the plant at Associated British Ports’ Port of Newport in March 2021. Knauf estimates that it will commission it later in 2022, and commence full operations in 2023. The plant will be equipped with solar and wind power plants, as well as on-site gypsum wallboard recycling facilities. 54 people will be employed in gypsum wallboard production at the site. Knauf says that the addition of the new plant to its existing facilities at Immingham, Lincolnshire, and Sittingbourne, Kent, will enlarge its UK capacity by 20%.

Knauf’s UK managing director Ian Stokes said “This new plant will significantly increase our ability to service customers throughout the UK, and particularly those in South Wales, the Midlands and the South-West of England. It is a very exciting move for Knauf and, following recent investment in increasing the capacity of Knauf Insulation, reflects the confidence of the Knauf Group in the UK construction sector.”

Brazil: Trevo Drywall has begun raising funds for the construction of a new gypsum wallboard plant in Southeast Brazil. The company’s existing gypsum wallboard plant at Juazeiro do Norte, Ceará, is currently undergoing expansion to 16Mm²/yr from 14Mm²/yr. The plant will transition to natural gas power in January 2022. Trevo Drywall plans to further increase its capacity to 20Mm²/yr before 2024. Prior to this, it will use resources from its cash generation and proprietary and third-party capital to build the new unit in the Southeast. The company says that its location will be ‘closer to the main drywall consumer centres in Brazil.’ Currently, more than 80% of its sales are outside of the Northeast. The producer holds an 11% share of the Brazilian gypsum wallboard market.

CEO Sávio Maia said “We have been expanding our production potential at a rate of 26% per year since 2014 and, despite all the macroeconomic difficulties that Brazil went through during this period, we have always used 100% of our installed capacity.” He added “We generate more than 220 direct jobs, which has a great effect on the lives of many families in Juazeiro do Norte and the surrounding region, either by the income generated directly and indirectly, or by the company's prominent role among the largest local taxpayers.”

Canada: Bob Bruce of Innogyps has announced that Robert Morrow has joined Innogyps as a partner. Innogyps says that Rob brings with him North American, European and Australasian regional experience and gypsum and construction products business experience with CertainTeed (BPB), Genstar Corporation and Arthur Young (Ernst & Young).

In addition to his undergraduate degree in commerce, Rob is a chartered accountant and has operations experience in supply chain and mining, business strategy and leadership development. Inogyps says that his diverse set of skills will assist Mark Flumiani and the rest of the team in providing an organisation to meet customer needs.

Australia: Building materials group Boral has cut 100 jobs from its Australian business, taking total job losses from its global operations to 1100 since January 2013. A company spokesperson confirmed the job cuts to the Australian Financial Review ahead of a presentation by chief executive Mike Kane in Sydney.

Kane's presentation revealed Boral's strategy, including ambitious growth targets for the Asian gypsum and US businesses. Its gypsum business holds a 40-45% market share in Asia with a wallboard production capacity of 625Mm2/yr.

Australia: Boral, Australia's largest building materials supplier, has said that it will cut 1000 jobs from its global operations this fiscal year as part of a restructuring initiative intended to improve competitiveness. It is hoped that the changes will save US$95m/yr, with estimated savings of US$39m in 2013.

CEO and managing director Mike Kane described the company as 'burdened' with excessive overhead costs. "While this may be less obvious during the good times, it becomes critically exposed when times are tough," he said. The restructuring follows a 100 day review of the business conducted by Kane.

The majority of job losses are in Australia, where 885 positions will be axed. This includes the 90 roles Boral said that it would cut in December 2012 as it announced plans to suspend the production of clinker at its Waurn Ponds cement plant in eastern Australia. 15 jobs will be cut in the US.

In June 2012 the company reported that it had 14,740 employees, with around 8730 in Australia. A further reduction of 1420 employees will also take place due to Boral's previously announced divestment of assets in Asia and Australia.

US: USG Corporation (USG) has announced the election of Matthew Carter Jr. to its board of directors. Carter will serve on the Audit and Governance committees of the USG board of directors. With his addition, USG's board now includes nine independent directors.

Carter is President, Sprint Global Wholesale & Emerging Solutions at Sprint Nextel Corporation. His leadership and experience spans more than 20 years across diverse industries with major companies such as Bristol Myers, Coca-Cola and Leap Wireless. Heavily involved in the telecommunications sector through his career, Carter holds a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University and a master of business administration from Harvard Business School.

"We are pleased to welcome Matt Carter to our board," said Jim Metcalf, chairman of the board, president and CEO of USG Corporation. "His history of leadership, vision, innovation and business transformation will be valuable assets as USG continues to create its own recovery and emerge as a stronger company."