Gypsum industry news

Brazil: Knauf plans to set up a plant in Camaçari, Bahia with an investment of US$61.5m. Commissioning is due in 2014. The plant will produce gypsum products and the metallic structures for construction systems. It will be the second such plant in Brazil after the first in Queimados, Rio de Janeiro. Knauf's total capacity in Brazil will grow from 24 Mm² to 44Mm² of gypsum products.

UK: Siniat has invested more than Euro300,000 in the construction of a new laboratory facility at its manufacturing plant in Portbury, Somerset.

The lab provides a high-specification environment for Siniat's production, maintenance and quality assurance teams and has enabled it to consolidate all three functions, which were previously based in different parts of the site, in one central, integrated location at the heart of the plant. Construction work began in May 2013 and is now complete, with the lab fully operational.

The facility will also act as an area where Siniat can welcome customers and other visitors to discuss its latest innovations and demonstrate key product performance capabilities such as fire and water resistance.

The project is just one step in a long-term vision for improving the site, says Stephane Mettavant, Plant Manager. "We've embarked on an ambitious programme of change for our Bristol plant since becoming Siniat (in October 2012). It's focused on improving facilities for our customers and our employees and creating an environment in which we can share our expertise."

"The programme has already delivered tangible results and helped us to streamline our processes throughout the plant," said Mettavant. "We have been successful in reducing the number of customer complaints we receive to industry-leading levels and the new lab represents the next stage of reinforcing that quality assurance.

Siniat was formerly known as Lafarge Plasterboard. It was acquired from Lafarge by Belgium's Etex group at the end of 2011 and began trading as Siniat in October 2012.

US/Canada: Georgia-Pacific plans to 'idle' one wallboard plant in Caledonia, Ontario and one wallboard plant in West Memphis, Tennessee in early 2014. Eric Abercrombie, a spokesperson for Georgia-Pacific, attributed the decision to production optimisation and a slow recovery in the building materials market.

"We are doing this because of market conditions and the fact we've just acquired new capacity through a merger," stated Abercrombie to local media. 60 employees will be affected at the Caledonia plant and 39 employees at the West Memphis plant.

In early 2013, Georgia-Pacific acquired four new gypsum wallboard plants when it took over Memphis-based Temple-Inland Building Products from International Paper. That deal, worth US$750m, added 1800 employees to Georgia-Pacific and 16 production facilities.

Austria: Starlinger, a technology supplier for woven plastic packaging production and plastics recycling, is opening its factory and showrooms in Weissenbach on 14 – 16 and 21 – 25 October 2013. Packaging producers and plastics recyclers will have the opportunity to see the latest models of the Starlinger machine range in operation.

Highlights on show include the new lamiTEC coating and lamination line that features roll change at full production speed and increased output, the RX 8.0 circular loom for heavy-duty fabric weaving, the conversion line ad*starKON SX+ and the newly developed linTAPE tape winders with linear drive technology for smooth winding and gentle tape treatment.

UK/Spain: Fermacell has officially opened a new 12MM2/yr gypsum fibreboard plant near Santander in Spain. The Euro30m plant is intended to target growing market demand and increase the company's supply to its European distribution network.

"Increasing market demand and additional sales potential are the main reasons for expanding the production of gypsum fibreboards and the opening of the new factory. Our international sales offices are faced with extensive utilisation of existing factories and the new Spanish plant will improve supply to the UK and other large construction markets across Europe," said Fermacell UK general manager, Gary Carter.

Kazakhstan: Zhambylgypsum plans to start a gypsum production line in the Zhambyl region by the end of 2015, according to the ADM Kazakhstan Capital Restructuring Fund.

"This will be the first such facility in the post-Soviet era. The plant will produce 600t/day of gypsum and 15m3/hr of fluff perlite, 7t/hr of calcite flour and 30t/hr of dry mortar," said Zhambylgypsum head Kaynarbek Kusayynov.

ADM Kazakhstan Capital Restructuring Fund, part of Kazyna Capital Management, provided funds for the project, in particular for the expansion of production capacities and purchase of gypsum calcination equipment. ADM KCRF was set up in 2010 with capital standing at US$100m. Its main investors are the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and JSC Kazyna Capital Management.

Russia: Saint-Gobain has started production at its first wallboard plant in Russia. Pierre-André de Chalendar, chairman and CEO of Saint-Gobain, officially opened the plant, located near Gomzovo in the Nizhny Novgorod region, on 10 July 2013. The new Euro70m plant, which also contains a gypsum quarry, has a workforce of 87 employees.

"The start-up of this new plant is an important step in the group's development within the Russian habitat and construction markets," said de Chalendar. "With its unique portfolio of products and solutions, Saint-Gobain serves rapidly-growing construction markets worldwide. Russia's climate, its rising purchasing power and pressing need for housing means that it's a country with great potential for the group."

Russia: Matanat-A, the Azerbaijani building materials producer, has re-registered land in Uspensk district of Krasnodar region of the Russian Federation intended for a industrial complex including a gypsum wallboard plant. Company president Elkhan Bashirov said that they Matanat-A is continuing negotiations with the district administration about the start of construction.

"The point is that the purchased land is registered as agricultural land. In this respect we submitted the documents for re-registration of land for industrial work," said Bashirov.

The agreement to build the complex has originally signed on 16 September 2011 at the Jubilee X Investment Forum in Sochi. The plans consist of five plants, including a gypsum wallboard plant, built on a 37 hectares plot. Matanat-A has also purchased a 78 hectare site to mine gypsum at Otradnensky in Krasnodar region. The plant build will be funded by a Euro30m investment, of which 30% comes from Matanat-A and the remaining 70% from a loan.

US: Lafarge has announced that is preparing the sale of its North American gypsum business to US private equity firm Lone Star in a deal worth an enterprise value of US$700m.

Lafarge North America's Gypsum division manufactures gypsum wallboards and joint compounds throughout a network of plants in the United States and Canada, including three US gypsum wallboard plants. In 2012, these operations generated sales of US$310m. The assets have been held for sale in the Lafarge's consolidated balance sheet since 2011.

This transaction, which is expected to close very soon, is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Global building materials producer Lafarge reduced its net debt by Euro700m in 2012 to Euro11.3bn. It sold the majority of its worldwide gypsum business – in Asia, Europe, South America and Australia – to Boral and Etex in 2011. Lafarge retains a 20% stake in the joint venture with Etex.

Oman: USG-Zawawi Group and Bank Sohar have signed a US$45m deal to set up and run a gypsum quarry and gypsum wallboard plant in the Salalah Free Zone in Oman. The plant will have a production capacity of 8MM²/yr in its first phase, with a capacity of 16MM²/yr planned in accordance with future demand.

Zawawi Minerals LLC is an Oman-based company belonging to the Qais Zawawi Group. Zawawi Minerals is engaged in exploring and trading high-quality industrial minerals and metal ores, like limestone, gypsum, dolomite and chrome ore. USG's partnership with Zawawi has established two joint venture companies: Zawawi Gypsum LLC and USG-Zawawi Drywall LLC SFZ. The first joint venture develops infrastructure and operates a gypsum quarry, while the second joint venture will build and operate the new gypsum board plant in the Salalah Free Zone.