Gypsum industry news

Belarus: Knauf is expected to become the joint owner of Belgips in April 2017 when Belorussian and Russian competition bodies approve its purchase of half of the company from Russia's Volma. Following the transaction Volma will own the remaining half of the gypsum wallboard producer, according to Business News Belarus. The move follows a decision by Volma to concentrate on the Russian market. The Belorussian government has already approved the deal.

Russia: The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has approved an application by Knauf Gypsum Kuban to acquire a 100% stake in ZZSG. FAS ruled that the takeover would not have any effects for competition in the market sector.

ZZSG is a producer and seller of gypsum products in the Mari El federal region of Russia. Knauf Gypsum Kuban is a Russia subsidiary of Knauf.

Russia: Knauf has begun the construction of a Euro16.8m gypsum dry building mix plant in Chapayevsk, Samara. The plant is expected to be commissioned at the end of 2016. The 170,000m² plant area is under municipal ownership and will be leased by Knauf for 49 years. The plant will be Knauf's 15th production enterprise in Russia.

"In the region there is a raw materials base, which is important for Knauf. As there is quite a large amount of construction in the region currently, construction materials producers are needed. We understand that it is much more advantageous to localise production here, than to transport materials from other regions and engage in, in particular, international logistics," said Samara's Regional Economic Development Minister Alexander Kobenko. "It is planned for the plant to reach full capacity in two and a half years. It will produce about 240,000t/yr of gypsum binder and 130,000t/yr of building mixes. This is about Euro25m/yr," said Kobenko.

Russia: Turkey's Erişim has completed another gypsum plant in Orenburg, Russia. The official opening of the gypsum plant Volma took place on 4 September 2015. The Orenburg Regional Governor, Yury Berg, the President of Volma, Alexander Malashkin and the Chairman of Board of Volma, Yury Goncharov, took part in the opening ceremony.

"Volma Orenburg is a modern, ecologically-safe project that will actively participate in the implementation of import replacement projects and in the cooperation between Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) countries," said Goncharov.

The new plant has been built with high-tech, environmentally-friendly technologies. The plaster production volume upon achieving its estimated capacity will be 120,000t/yr. From pre-engineering to commissioning, the plant has been completed in 16 months by Erişim.

Volma's other new gypsum plant in Adygeya, the 240,000t/yr Maikop plant, will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2015 and was also built by Erişim.

Russia: Knauf Gips has filed a lawsuit in the commercial court of Moscow against Prikamskaya Gypsum Company, Gipsopolimer (30.84% owned by Knauf), the Prikamskaya Gypsum Company trading house, the Erster trading house and GlavOptStroyTorg. Knauf Gips has demanded that the defendants be forbidden from using symbols similar to Knauf's trademarks and has claimed Euro61.1m. Knauf Gips has also demanded that counterfeit gypsum wallboard with its trademark be destroyed.

Russia: CJSC Knauf Gips Baskunchak, based in the Astrakhan region, plans to start developing the Kashara-Tugai gypsum deposit before the end of 2015, according to company director Sergei Michkov.

"We are commissioning the Kashara-Tugai deposit, located north of Lake Baskunchak. We have received the development license and the documentation has been agreed. The reserves are quite large: it will support production for 100 years," said Michkov in comments reported on by Interfax.

Astrakhan region has reported 67.5Mt of gypsum registered on its state records. Knauf Gips Baskunchak had a total of 111Mt of gypsum reserves recorded at the start of 2015. Knauf Gips Baskunchak, which joined the Knauf group in 1998, produces high-quality dry mixes from gypsum and supplies gypsum to Russian cement plants and other enterprises.

Russia: According to Interfax, Bratskekogaz, which is controlled by Rosneft subsidiary Itera, has concluded a contract to supply Knauf Gips Baikal with compressed natural gas from the Bratskoye field in Irkutsk.

Bratskekogaz has signed agreements to supply compressed natural gas to Knauf Gips Baikal, which has a current demand of 25Mm³/yr. The implementation period is 2016 – 2017. It was reported previously that Knauf CIS was in talks with Itera to supply compressed natural gas to Knauf Gips Baikal to reduce production costs. Knauf Gips Baikal currently operates on liquefied gas delivered from Krasnoyarsk, Tyumen and Omsk, which is 260% more expensive than natural gas delivered by pipeline. This has made it difficult to compete with imported gypsum wallboard and dry construction mixes from China and South Korea.

Knauf will invest US$1.5m in the project to switch to compressed natural gas. The money will be used to build a gas acceptance facility and rebuild the burners and pipelines. The supplier is responsible for building the compressor station and supplying the compressed natural gas tankers for transportation.

Russia: According to ENP Newswire, VTB Bank and Volma have signed two loan agreements worth Euro9.55m over three years. Volma will use the funds to finance the construction of a new plant in the Republic of Adygea and to increase its working capital.

"Supporing manufacturers is one of the bank's priorities, given the importance of the real economy sector to Russia. Volma is a major producer of finishing materials and a serious competitor for West European companies. I'm sure that the bank's support will help it strengthen its position both in Russia and in foreign markets," said Mikhail Oseevskiy, deputy president and chairman of VTB Bank management board.

"VTB Bank is very important for Volma's growth, especially in the current difficult economic situation. It is a strategic financial partner and its assistance has helped us increase our business in recent years,' said Volma director general Vladimir Ovchintsev.

Russia: Turkey's Kastamonu Entegre plans to start construction of a gypsum wallboard plant in Kaluga, Russia. The plant will be located in the Lyudinovo Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Kastamonu Entegre signed an agreement with the regional authorities in 2014.

Russia: Volma corporation is setting up a plant for the production of construction materials and gypsum-based products in the Republic of Adygea. The project has an investment of US$19.7m. It will have a production capacity of 0.24Mt/yr of dry mortars, 0.3Mt/yr of gypsum, 0.54Mm² of gypsum partition blocks. Phase two of the project will build a gypsum plasterboard line.