Gypsum industry news

Mexico: Saint-Gobain has completed the acquisition of Knauf Mexico for an undisclosed sum. Knauf operates a 26Mm² gypsum wallboard plant at Queretaro that it purchased from PPG in 2017.

Egypt: Dahab Sinai for Manufacturing and Building Materials has ordered a gypsum plant from Germany’s Claudius Peters to be built in the Suez region. The new plant will be used for the production of basic plaster for wall and ceiling plaster products. Construction is scheduled to start in early 2020 with commissioning to follow in the the third quarter of the year. No value for the order has been disclosed.

Claudius Peters will supply a grinding and calcining plant with a EM47 type mill with a stucco throughput capacity of 25t/hr. A homogeniser for product optimisation is connected behind the calcining process. After the cooling process the produced basic gypsum can be adapted to the market requirements by adding setting regulators and hydrated limestone. This part of the plant is also included in the scope of supply. The finished product is bagged by means of a four spout packer RotoFill type R6/4L with a capacity of 1137bags/hr. Various silos, a truck loading and unloading plant, the complete electrical equipment and control systems as well as the raw material handling with corresponding conveying technology are also part of the delivery.

The new plant will be used to supply the local market but exports to Africa and Europe are also planned. The plant is designed in such a way that further plant equipment can be installed at a later stage. The mixing plant can be extended with the admixture of further additives. Furthermore, a reserve space for the later retrofitting of a bag applicator with loading equipment has been taken into consideration.

Romania: France’s Fives has supplied a new FCB TSV1600 MF for Etex’s calcined gypsum grinding plant in Aghires. The project is part of an upgrade to the unit to close the existing open circuit. Commissioning took place in late January 2019.

US: Continental Building Products says that its Buchanan gypsum wallboard plant in New York state has reopened at full capacity. The unit shut in January 2019 following a ‘significant’ equipment malfunction. Continental's plants in Silver Grove, Kentucky and Palatka, Florida increased their production to offset a portion of Buchanan's lost volumes.

China: Wengu Chemicals plans to build a 10Mm²/yr wallboard production line at its gypsum plaster plant in Guizhou province. It plans to commission the new line by the end of 2019, according to CCM. The company has stockpiled over 38Mt of phosphogypsum in the province. It is using this to produce a variety of gypsum products.

Peru: Eternit plans to upgrade its gypsum wallboard plants at Cercado in Lima and Huachipa. Wallboard consumption is 0.4m²/yr per capita in Peru compared to 2.7m²/yr per capita in Chile, according to the Gestión newspaper. The subsidiary of Belgium’s Etex plans to increase its revenue from wallboard to 50% from 40% at present.

US: Stacy Kuszmaul, a plant manager at Delavan, Wisconsin and Deirdre Brockwell, staff researcher at Libertyville, Illinois have been recognised by the Manufacturing Institute as part of its annual Science, Technology, Engineering and Production (STEP) Ahead Awards. This marks the fifth consecutive year a USG employee has received this honour for her contributions to the manufacturing industry. The STEP Ahead Awards honour women who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in their careers and represent all levels of the manufacturing industry, from the factory-floor to the executive level.

Kuszmaul, a plant manager with more than 15 years' experience at USG, has been recognised for her operational acumen - particularly on new line startups - and has been a key driver in the company's Performance Materials division. Brockwell, a researcher in USG's ceilings lab, develops early stage concepts and conducts research that helps to expand USG's ceilings portfolio and respond to demands from architects, designers and contractors. She is also a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Green Belt.

The Manufacturing Institute will recognise Kuszmaul, Brockwell and their fellow STEP Ahead award recipients during a reception in April 2019 in Washington, DC.

Spain: Pladur Gypsum has officially opened its 12Mm²/yr Gelsa wallboard plant. The unit had an investment of Euro60m and it has created 75 jobs, according to the Periódico de Aragón newspaper. Start-up at the plant began in September 2018 and full production started in January 2019. The unit currently has a three-shift work pattern and this is expected to change to four shifts by the end of 2019.

US: Continental Building Products says that a significant equipment malfunction took place at its Buchanan gypsum wallboard plant in New York state on 24 January 2019. The plant will likely be shut until the end of February 2019 to make repairs. Standard insurance coverage is expected to pay for the maintenance work. No staff injuries occurred during the incident.

"We apologise to our customers for any disruptions caused by these supply constraints," said Jay Bachmann, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Continental building Products.

The company expects to limit new orders for shipments normally delivered from our Buchanan plant during the shutdown. The 60Mm² plant represents about 20% of the company’s wallboard production capacity. Plants in Silver Grove, Kentucky and Palatka, Florida will make up some of the shortfall while the Buchanan plant is being repaired. However the company admitted that due to ‘capacity constraints, logistics and product availability’ the two plants will be unable to make up for all of the lost production.

Uzbekistan: Germany’s Knauf has increased the production capacity of its Bukhara wallboard plant by 40% to 33.5Mm²/yr. This follow an investment of Euro16m in mid-2018, according to the Uzbekistan National News Agency. Knauf was previously reported to be considering building another gypsum wallboard plant in the country.