Gypsum industry news

Norway: Norgips has appointed Christian Stålem as its managing director. He was previously the commercial director of the subsidiary of Knauf since May 2022. His promotion follows an interim period with Jan Ellringmann, a member of the group management, covering the position. Stålem previously worked as a sales director at BMI Group. Prior to this he held sales, business development and marketing positions at Circle K, Statoil and Capgemini Consulting.

UK: Knauf UK and Ireland has appointed Paul Campbell as its Commercial Director. He will be responsible for the strategic development of supply chains, customer support, marketing and technical functions. Campbell previously worked for British Gypsum for over 10 years in product management and marketing roles before becoming the Marketing & Technical Director, UK & Ireland at BMI Group in 2019.

Saudi Arabia: USG Boral Middle East has rebranded as USG Middle East (USG ME) with the tagline ‘Innovative Solutions Everytime.’ The company is a joint venture between Knauf-subsidiary USG and Juman Industrial Investment Company. It was originally founded in 1985 and later become part of USG Boral. It produces gypsum wallboard, ceiling, interior finishing, substrate and metal framing products.

Tanzania: Knauf Gypsum Tanzania says that it plans to more than double the production capacity of its 15Mm²/yr gypsum wallboard plant in Mkuranga, Pwani Region, to 43Mm²/yr. IPP Media News has reported that the company's planned investment in the project as US$49.3m. The producer expects that the expanded Mkuranga gypsum wallboard plant will increase its annual gypsum wallboard exports by 170%. When commissioned in 2025, the plant will be the largest in East and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Croatia: The Croatian Competition Commission (CCA) has started investigating Knauf for alleged market distorting behaviour from 2017 to 2021. In a statement the regulator said that the wallboard producer, has been accused of abusing, “…its dominant position by applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties, thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage. Concretely, the complainant claimed that Knauf applied different rebate schemes (discounts) and trading conditions that were not based on objectively justified criteria, which have directly resulted in distortion of competition in the preliminary defined relevant market in drywall gypsum boards.” The CCA will examine whether Knauf’s behaviour breached Articles 8 and 13 of the Croatian Competition Act.

Germany-based Knauf operates one gypsum wallboard plant in the country at Knin.

Georgia: Knauf inaugurated a new Euro30m plaster plant in Georgia on 13 October 2022, Sarke News has reported.

Georgian Minister of Economy Levan Davitashvili said that Georgia's current 'high economic growth' is partly due to Knauf's continued investment in its gypsum activities in the country. Davitashvili noted that Knauf has trained 1000 people at its construction industry training centre since 2018.

The minister said that Knauf continually raises the Georgian building materials industry to 'new standards.' He added "The professional knowledge brought by the company and the technologies introduced by it are also very important."

Romania: Germany-based Knauf has announced plans for the construction of a new gypsum wallboard plant at Huedin in Cluj County. The company said that it plans to invest Euro76m in the plant’s construction. It says that the investment will advance the Romanian government's 'energy savings offensive' by supporting a renovation drive for the country’s housing stock. The government aims to increase the national area of modern renovated properties by a factor of six, with a Euro30bn allocation from its Recovery and Resilience Fund.

Knauf's managing partner Alexander Knauf said “The commitment demonstrates our trust and confidence in the country and our employees. We look forward to becoming part of the local community. Together, we are setting new standards for building and living in Romania.”

Knauf had previously planned to build a 35Mm²/yr gypsum wallboard plant at Huedin at a cost of Euro70m. A mine at nearby Aghireșu would supply the planned plant with raw materials. The Aghireșu mine reportedly has 100 years' worth of gypsum reserves. Knauf first delayed its Huedin plant plans in 2009 in light of the economic situation at that time.

UK: Knauf UK has announced a collaboration with Modulous, a company that supplies technology products to support offsite construction. The light building materials producer has become a supply chain partner with Modulous. It also gave Modulous space at its Sittingbourne headquarters site to build a demonstration module, which was completed at the end of 2021.

Liam Poole, the head of marketing at Knauf UK, said, “We came on board as an early supply-chain partner because Modulous has built an inspired solution to some of the biggest pain points in construction and development.”

Modulous is marketing a set of digital products that connect manufacturers, designers and clients in the construction sector. It claims it is an efficient way to develop residential buildings at speed and scale. The company offers a virtual design for any building, complete with product selections and assembly instructions, which contractors can then use to build modules and assemble them on site. Modulous uses a so-called ‘kit of parts’ to help contractors assemble the modules. Knauf’s contribution towards this includes products such as floors, external walls, interior partitioning systems and spray finishes.

Germany: The German Professional Association of Geoscientists (BGD), the German Gypsum Association (GIPS) and Knauf Gips have held a christening ceremony for gypsum’s status as ‘rock of the year’ at Iphofen. At the event a freshly mined gypsum stone was ceremoniously unveiled. Speeches were also given by Manuel Lapp from the Saxony State Office for the Environment, Agriculture and Geology, Holger Ortleb of GIPS, Andreas von Heßberg from the University of Bayreuth and Marco Pabstmann from Knauf. Music was provided by the Knauf miners’ band. Over 80 guests were in attendance. Since 2007 the BGD has chosen a different rock each year to promote to the general public.

UK: Knauf has maintained its 'Excellent' rating for BES 6001 Responsible Sourcing of its wallboard, laminated plasterboard and gypsum powder products, a rating that it has held since 2019.

The BES 6001 standard is a means of securing certification to demonstrate through independent, third-party certification, that raw materials for products certified against the scheme have been responsibly sourced and that Knauf manufactures these products in a way that minimises the impact on the environment and natural resources. Knauf said that this was a 'significant achievement,' requiring input from all areas of its business, from procurement and manufacturing activities to distribution to customers.