Gypsum industry news

Austria: The European Commission has approved the formation of a joint venture between Saint-Gobain Austria (Rigips), demolition company Porr Umwelttechnik and waste management company Saubermacher. The project plans to build and operate a gypsum recycling plant in Stockerau.

Japan: Chiyoda Ute has issued a share sales request as part of ongoing plans to form a joint-venture with Germany-based Knauf. Knauf is expected to acquire the outstanding shares. Shares in Chiyoda Ute will then be delisted in late July 2022. The move follows a tender offer from Knauf that was issued in April 2022. The eventual plan is form a joint-venture between the companies with Knauf holding a 75% share.

Turkey: France-based Saint-Gobain and building materials producer Dalsan have signed a joint-venture agreement, pursuant to which they will merge their gypsum wallboard operations in Turkey. The merge will give the new joint venture a gypsum wallboard production capacity of over 100Mm²/yr. It will also see the companies’ plaster production consolidated under their new subsidiary.

The partners said “This partnership will offer Turkish customers access to the most innovative and complete portfolio of light and sustainable solutions for the construction and renovation of the building envelope, as well as internal partitioning.”

Bosnia & Herzegovina: China-based BNBM plans to build a 40Mm²/yr gypsum wallboard plant in a joint venture with Rudnik i Termoelektrana Ugljevik (RiTE Ugljevik). The new company will be called BNBM Eastern Europe and based at Ugljevik, where RiTE Ugljevik operates the coal-fired Ugljevik Power Plant. The project has an investment of Euro50m with BNBM contributing Euro45m towards the total. Construction is expected to take 18 months, although a start date is subject to the joint-venture meeting certain conditions to the satisfaction of its parent companies. RiTE Ugljevik is a subsidiary of the state-owned power company Elektroprivreda.

Argentina/Peru: France-based Saint-Gobain and Chile-based Compania Industrial El Volcan have signed an agreement to cooperate in the Argentine and Peruvian gypsum wallboard markets. The companies will finalise the agreement in January 2021.

In Peru, Saint-Gobain will purchase El Volcan Soluciones Constructivas , a company specialised in the production and sale of wallboard. After this new entity has been merged with SG Productos para la Construccion, which specialises in the production and sale of mortars and has been wholly owned by the Saint-Gobain Group since December 2019, Saint-Gobain will retain a 55% stake in the new consolidated group and will sell the remaining 45% to the El Volcan group.

In Argentina, El Volcan will purchase from Saint-Gobain a 45% stake in the group including Tuyango, the historical plaster business, and Aswell, the plasterboard business acquired in the first quarter of 2019, with Saint-Gobain owning a 55% stake in this Argentine gypsum group.

Norway: New West Gipsgjenvinning, a joint venture between Norsk Gjenvinning and Canada’s New West Gypsum Recycling, has won the innovation prize at Avfall Norge’s annual conference. It was among three finalists including Grønt Skifte, a company utilising CO₂ from biogas production of food waste to grow tomatoes, and Waste IQ, a digital platform that aids waste management. Avfall Norge is a trade association for the waste industry in Norway.

Australia: Boral’s chief executive officer, Mike Kane, expects that its USG Boral joint venture’s earnings will grow by 10% in its financial year to the end of June 2019. He told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting that improvements in markets in China, Indonesia, Thailand and India would counteract slowing residential construction in Australia and South Korea, according to the Australian newspaper. He also said that Boral is conducting two valuations of USG Boral following the merger of USG and Knauf. The company is considering whether to buy the other half of the joint venture or whether to find another partner.

Europe: USG has entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of its interest in Knauf-USG Verwaltungs GmbH and Knauf/USG Systems GmbH and Co KG to Knauf Aquapanel GmbH for approximately Euro48m in cash.

The Knauf-USG joint venture manufactures and distributes Aquapanel brand cement panels throughout Europe (excluding Turkey) and all countries that were part of the former Soviet Union.

USG's equity method income in the Knauf-USG joint venture amounted to Euro1.79m for the year that ended on 31 December 2014. Upon the close of the transaction, USG anticipates recording a Euro2.68 – 6.26m gain. The closing of the sale is subject to the receipt of necessary governmental approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to take place by the end of 2015.

Tanzania: Saint-Gobain has finalised a deal to form a joint venture in which it owns 50% of the capital of Lodhia Gypsum Industries based in Arusha, Northern Tanzania, according to the National Iraqi News Agency. Lodhia Gypsum Industries makes and sells wallboard in Tanzania, Kenya and neighbouring countries.

US/Australia: The Commission of New Zealand has granted clearance to USG Corporation and Boral Limited to enter into a joint venture.

The proposed joint venture relates to the two parties' operations in Asia, India, the Middle East and Australasia for the supply of plasterboard, ceiling tiles and ancillary building products such as metal studs and tracks, metal ceiling grids and metal ceiling battens.

The Commission found no significant overlap between USG and Boral in the plasterboard and ceiling tile markets and therefore focused its investigation on the supply of metal building products because the proposed joint venture would give USG Corporation an interest in Rondo Building Services Pty Ltd. At present, both USG and Rondo supply a range of metal building products in New Zealand.

The Commission was satisfied that the proposed joint venture will not have, or would not be likely to have, the effect of substantially lessening competition in separate markets for the supply of metal studs and tracks, metal ceiling battens and metal ceiling grid.

"In all three of these markets, the proposed joint venture would face competition from a number of different suppliers including both domestic manufacturers and importers," said Commerce Commission chairman Mark Berry.