Gypsum industry news

Iran: Azerbaijan’s Matanat-A gypsum plant is estimated to cost around US$10m. The head of mining and industrial organization of Semnan Province, Behrouz Asfadi, said that production at the plant was expected to start in the ‘near future,’ according to the Trend News Agency. Jafar Sarghini, the deputy minister of industries, mining and trade, added that Matanat-A is already using a gypsum mine in northern Iran and the plant is expected to be located nearby.

Mexico: Panel Rey has inaugurated its gypsum wallboard plant in Ciudad Juárez. The company spent over US$55m on the plant that it says it the largest in Latin America. It is its fifth wallboard plant in the country following plants at El Carmen NL, San Luis Potosi, Mexico City and Mexicali. Construction at the site started in 2010 and first production started in early April 2018. Nicolás Alverde Villareal, the general director of Panel Rey, and Javier Corral Jurado, the governor of the state of Chihuahua, attended the event. The new plant is expected to created 170 direct jobs.

US: The commissioners of New Hanover country in North Carolina have approved a US$0.35m incentive package for National Gypsum to open its Wilmington wallboard plant. The package will be offered over five years if the wallboard producer meets benchmarks that include investing US$25m in the plant and hiring at least 51 people at the site, according to the Star News newspaper. The city of Wilmington is also considering offering a package of US$0.23m. However, pollution concerns have been aired at public hearings about re-starting the plant.

China/Tanzania: China National Building Material (CNBM) has started work on a gypsum wallboard plant in Tanzania. The project is part of its participation in the government’s ‘One bet, one road’ industrial strategy.

Revenue from the group’s new materials division that produces gypsum wallboard rose by 25% year-on-year in 2017 to US$2.03bn from US$1.62bn in 2016. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBTIDA) rose by 40% to US$577m from US$413m. Its production volumes of gypsum boards rose by 12% to 1826Mm² from 1632Mm².

Canada: Lafarge Canada has filed an application under the Environmental Management Act to discharge emissions from a pumice dryer and gypsum granulator at its mothballed cement plant at Kamloops in British Colombia. The building materials manufacturer plans to produce agricultural gypsum and dry pumice for concrete production at the site, according to the Kamloops This Week newspaper. The plant stopped cement production in late 2016.

Russia: Novotroitsk Soda Plant intends to start production of gypsum at its unit in the Orenburg region of the Volga district. The project has an investment of Euro32m, according to the Kommersant newspaper. The plant will produce 143,000t/yr of gypsum when it reaches full production capacity in 2021. It will also create 165 jobs when operational.

US: Ann Franzen, the plant manager of USG’s gypsum wallboard plant in Rainier, Oregon has been recognised by the Manufacturing Institute as part of its annual Science, Technology, Engineering and Production (STEP) Ahead Awards. This marks the fourth 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.

Franzen, a STEP Ahead Honouree, joined USG more than 20 years ago. She became USG’s first female plant manager and has played a role in USG’s lean management initiative. Franzen is also a founding member of USG’s Women in Manufacturing group, which connects female plant employees across the USG network and promotes career advancement.

The STEP Ahead Awards are part of the larger STEP Ahead initiative, launched to examine and promote the role of women in the manufacturing industry through recognition, research, and leadership for attracting, advancing, and retaining strong female talent. In five years, STEP Ahead Award winners have impacted more than 300,000 individuals — from peers in the industry to school-aged children. The Manufacturing Institute will recognize all 130 recipients of the STEP Ahead Awards on 10 April 2018 at a reception in Washington, DC.

US: National Gypsum is considering reopening a gypsum wallboard plant in either Tampa, Florida or Wilmington, North Carolina. The wallboard producer plans to make its final decision late in 2018, according to the Greater Wilmington Business Journal. The Tampa plant was shut in 2008 and the Wilmington plant stopped operations in 2009. The company is planning to expand its presence in the south-east of the country.

India: Pierre-Andre de Chalendar, chairman and chief executive officer of Saint-Gobain, has inaugurated the company’s Jhagadia 30Mm² gypsum wallboard plant in Gujarat. The plant is the largest wallboard plant in the country. Saint-Gobain’s local subsidiary, Gyproc, operates three other plants in Haryana, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Uzbekistan: Knauf Gips Bukhara has suspended production of gypsum wallboard at its plant in Bukhara until 1 March 2018 while it builds a new production line. The upgrade is planned to increase the unit’s production capacity by 30%. It was originally scheduled for completion in 2017. Knauf has spent Euro40m on the project.