Gypsum industry news

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.

UK: British Gypsum has signed a five-year contract with PD Ports to process its natural gypsum imports. The deal will bring raw materials from Europe into the country via Teesport every two weeks where it will be stored in a new bulk storage unit. The gypsum will then be dispatched by rail to British Gypsum’s plants at Kirkby Thore in Cumbria and Sherburn-In-Elmet in Yorkshire. No value for the deal has been disclosed.

Belgium: Gyproc Belgium has installed a new mill to grind natural gypsum at its Kallo wallboard plant. The unit will continue to use flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) gypsum sourced from coal-fired power stations but the company is preparing for future changes in supply, according to the HLN newspaper.

Uzbekistan: Knauf holds a 70% share in the gypsum wallboard market. The German building materials producer sold 22.8Mm² of wallboard in 2017, according to the Trend News Agency. It increased the production capacity of its Bukhara wallboard plant in mid-2018 by 30% with an investment of US$22m. Knauf is also planning to build another wallboard plant in the country with an investment of over US$20m. This project is currently at the design stage.

India: USG Boral has held a ground breaking event for a new 30Mm² gypsum wallboard plant that it is building at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh. The project has an investment of US$39m. The new plant will be operated by local subsidiary USG Boral Building Products India. The site is expected to become operational by the end of 2019. It will create over 100 new jobs. It joins USG Boral’s 9Mm² wallboard plant at Khushkhera, New Delhi.

"This facility offers us the ability to significantly increase our operations in India and provide our customers in the region with the best plasterboard products," said Frederic de Rougemont, the chief executive officer (CEO) of USG Boral.

Spain: Saint-Gobain plans to invest Euro120m over the next three years in its local subsidiary. In an interview with the Cinco Dias newspaper, Gianni Scotti, the chief executive officer (CEO) for Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece and North Africa warned against rising electricity costs in the country. The bulk of the investment will go towards upgrading the Fábrica de Quinto wallboard plant in Zaragoza.