Gypsum industry news

Belarus: The Russian manufacturer of gypsum products VOLMA Corporation plans to acquire AAT Belhips, according to Heorhiy Kuznyatsow, head of the Belorussian State Property Committee. The privatisation of Belhips has been under consideration for three years now and Volma is the only company interested in acquiring it, said Kuznyatsow at a news conference in Minsk.

Belhips is estimated to be worth around Euro3.79m but the buyer would also be required to invest about Euro40m in the construction of a new gypsum plant outside Minsk. A draft presidential edict providing for the privatisation of Belhips is expected to be submitted to the Belorussian Council of Ministers from 25 February 2013.

Russia: Turkish gypsum-industry supplier Erişim Makina has opened an office in Moscow. The Moscow office will liaise with the company's head office in Ankara and it is responsible for the coordination of sales and CRM activities in Russia, Ukraine and the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). In an accompanying statement, Erişim Makina announced that by establishing a presence in Russia it aims to target companies and investors 'at home' and in their native language.

Russia: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced that it will consider additional investment and increased shares in the French building materials company Saint Gobain at its next board of directors meeting on 18 December 2012.

In a recent press release the EBRD stated that it will consider increasing its investment in the share capital structure in the Russian market leader leader to Euro24.3m and increase the current share of the bank in the Russian company to a maximum of 33%. The EBRD currently owns 11.19% Saint-Gobain Construction Products RUS.

Investment Bank will finance the majority of the planned investment programme of Saint Gobain Construction Products RUS, which will be implemented from 2013 to 2017. For the investment programme of the Russian units Saint Gobain will need Euro340m in this period.

The investment programme includes the development of a gypsum plasterboard plant in Nizhny Novgorod, as well as the construction and upgrade of existing plants. The project includes investments in companies in various regions and cities of Russia, such as Nizhny Novgorod, Arzamas, Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk.

Russia: Mordovcement has announced that its Euro87m gypsum plant, in the federal region of Mordovia, will be operational by the end of 2012. Doing business as LLC Magma, the Russian cement producer's new plant has four production lines. Its gypsum wallboard line has a capacity of 30Mm2/yr. Its gypsum partition block line has a capacity of 560,000m2/yr. Its gypsum construction block line has a capacity of 100,000t/yr. Its fourth line produces gypsum binder for dry construction mixes at a capacity of 90,000t/yr.