Gypsum industry news

Russia: The Ural-based company Bergauf Building Materials has purchased a production facility in Sterlitamak in the Bashkortostan Republic, Volga, from HeidelbergCement. The deal included a plant producing dry mortars under the brand Bystroy and a gypsum production complex. The price of the assets has not been reported.

Russia: According to the Statistics Service of the Krasnodar Region (South), in January - July 2014 the production of non-metallic building materials decreased by a factor of 1.6, production of plaster and ready-mix concrete fell by a factor of 1.5 and production of gypsum dropped by 26%. In contrast, the production of paving tiles of cement, concrete and artificial stone grew by 14.3%, production of blocks and other prefabricated un-reinforced products increased by 24.4% and production of technological lime rose by 60%.

Russia: The Peshelansky gypsum plant in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Volga has started production of wall panels using gypsum chipboards. Such panels are used for interior finishing.

Russia: Gypsum producer Volma has drawn a one-year loan of Euro4.30m from VTB bank. The company will finance its business operations with the funds. Volma has already secured Euro18.2m in loans at VTB.

France: Saint-Gobain and EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) have signed an agreement whereby EBRD will increase its participation in Saint-Gobain Construction Products Rus LLC from its current stake of 11% to 33%.

The EBRD equity injection will contribute to financing Saint-Gobain Construction Products' planned investments in Russia for the next three years, including projects in the gypsum, industrial mortars and insulation activities in several regions.

The investments will reflect the Environmental and Social Action Plan that was agreed with EBRD, thereby reaffirming the commitment of Saint-Gobain Group to the highest standards in environmental performance, corporate governance and business conduct.

This operation will contribute to the acceleration of Saint-Gobain's development in Russia, in alignment with the Group's strategy of strengthening its position in fast growing markets.

Russia: According to the Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus (EcoWatch), a gypsum plant is being built in the dwelling settlement of Kamennomostsky, Republic of Adygea that poses a danger to local residents and tourists. Ecologists have sent their appeals to supervisory authorities and bodies of power.

On 10 June 2014 EcoWatch received an appeal from the residents of Kamennomostsky and the neighbouring settlements of Abadzekh, in which they expressed their concerns about the fact that the operation of the plant will be 'a source of serious pollution of the environment.'

"The plant will use local water sources, which are scant," said Aslan Dzubov, the lawyer of a large peasant farm in Kamennomostsky. "Both crops and locals are severely affected by water pollution." He emphasised that he is not against the construction of the plant as such, but that it is necessary to choose a different location for it.

The EcoWatch sent official requests to the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Adygea, the regional department of the Russian Federal Agency for Consumer Supervision and the environment protection department asking them to conduct an inspection.

Russia: Saint-Gobain has announced that it intends to build a gypsum plant in one of the lime fields in Chelyabinsk Oblast. The plant will produce products under the Gyproc name. The investment amount has not been reported. Saint-Gobain also has a company producing Linerock basalt fibre at the Minplita plant in Chelyabinsk Oblast.

Belarus / Russia: Belarus-based Belgips was sold to Russia's Volma Corporation in accordance with Belarus President's Decree No 34 'Concerning public joint stock venture Belgips.' The decree was passed on 16 January 2014.

The decree provides for selling 1.98m Belarus-owned shares of Belgips, 99.5% of the authorised capital of the company, to Volma at a market price that was in effect on 1 April 2012, without holding an auction or a contest.

The deal was conditioned on Volma Corporation signing an investment agreement with Belarus. The investment agreement provides for the upgrade of Belgips' production facilities and construction of a plant to produce gypsum-based building materials in the village of Gatovo, Minsk District. In line with the document, the new facilities are to be constructed on a step-by-step basis simultaneously with the development, evaluation and approval of the necessary project documentation at every phase of the works.

The investment agreement provides that at least Euro43m will be invested by 1 July 2018. Euro24.7m of that amount is to be transferred to the Belarusian company by 30 June 2016. The investment will be used to upgrade the existing production facilities and to construct the new plant.

The gypsum wallboard production line is to be modernised within two years and its capacity increased to 10Mm2/yr. Apart from that, the plant to produce gypsum-based building materials in the village of Gatovo is to be built and commissioned by 1 July 2018. The plant will manufacture up to 500,000m2/yr of gypsum partition blocks, 100,000t/yr of dry mixes and 30Mm2/yr of gypsum wallboard. No jobs will be cut before 1 July 2018.

The Minsk City Council will earmark a land plot for Belgips to build and maintain the facilities stipulated by the investment project. The land plot will be provided without an auction and a 99-year lease agreement will be signed. The lease agreement on the land plot at Kozlova Street will be extended utill 1 July 2019.

The investors will not be able to use the shares of the Belarusian company at their discretion until they fulfill the obligations stipulated by the investment agreement. If the investors fail to fulfill the obligations, Belarus reserves the right to take back the shares on a non-repayable basis.

Russia: A US$150m upgrade to a wallboard plant producing GIPSELL brand products in the Kabardino-Balkaria republic has been announced, according to a statement from the local government. Wallboard output is anticipated to grow to 3MM³/yr. After the upgrade the plant will employ at least 400 workers. The launch is planned for August 2013.

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."