Gypsum industry news

Belarus: Belarusian gypsum wallboard demand will decrease by 12.5 - 17% in 2015, according to OJSC Belgips and FLLC Knauf Marketing, key players in the country. According to the companies' executives, the fall is a consequence of reducing funding of the construction industry and a decline in commercial real estate.

"In 2014, gypsum wallboard consumption in Belarus amounted to about 12Mm². In 2015, we estimate that the consumption will decrease to 10 - 10.5Mm²," said the director of Belgips, Stanislav Babitsky. The director of FLLC Knauf Marketing Alexander Babkin confirmed the 2014 market size at 12Mm² and said that he expects demand in 2015 to fall to 10Mm².

The head of corporate communications of Knauf for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Leonid Moose said that the main consumer of wallboard in Belarus was the business-to-business (B2B) sector, namely, the commercial real estate market. Out of the total wallboard consumption, the B2B sector had 70%, while the business-to-consumer (B2C) sector had 30%.

"The commercial real estate market is falling, while the population is beginning to save money and invest it in repairs. For this reason, we are observing the fall of consumption of gypsum wallboard and, at the same time, the growth of consumption, in particular, of dry building mixes, whose main consumer is the B2C sector," said Moose. "Meanwhile in Europe, wallboard is being increasingly used for partitions in individual building more than in Belarus."

Meanwhile, the demand for gypsum wallboard from the population has intensified, according to Babitsky. "The consumption of wallboard is increasing due to the growth in framed-monolithic housing in Belarus. During the last two years, the consumption growth was 20%. It smoothes the fall in demand from the commercial sector," said Babitsky. He added that another negative factor on the Belarusian market is the increased competition on the part of Russian players because of the Russian Ruble devaluation and the Russian wallboard market narrowing. Russia's wallboard production is around 600Mm²/yr, while consumption is 250Mm². As such, exports to Belarus have increased.

Belgips plans to develop new products for sale on the domestic and export markets. According to Gubanova, the company is considering entry into Lithuania and Latvia.