Gypsum industry news

Spain: Knauf has received a 30 year extension to its quarrying permit supporting its Escuzar wallboard plant in Granada. The company also plans to increase production capacity at the unit, according to Europa Press. The plant was established in 2008 and it has a capacity of 50Mm²/yr.

Spain: Saint-Gobain Placo has launched a new technical manual on environmental certifications of buildings. The Saint-Gobain subsidiary says that the manual will help professionals when addressing all certification requirements in Spanish construction. It takes a practical approach and details all processes and evidence necessary for each certificate. The company hopes to advance sustainable development by facilitating more comprehensive planning.

Spain: Saint-Gobain Placo has sent its first load of gypsum for 2021 to Montréal in Canada. The shipment consisted of 80,000t of natural gypsum from the company’s Almería quarry. It said that it previously expanded port facilities at Almería to facilitate shipments of this kind. It added that the shipment ‘consolidates the Almería-Montréal trade route,’ supporting the positioning of the Port of Almería as a strategic axis in international maritime trade.

US: Data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows that national natural gypsum production was 20.5Mt in the US in 2020, down by 5% year-on-year from 21.5Mt in 2019. Synthetic gypsum production remained constant at 14.4Mt and calcined gypsum production fell by 2% to 17.2Mt from 17.5Mt. Crude gypsum exports fell by 13% to 32,200t from 37,000t and calcined gypsum exports fell by 21% to 89,400t from 113,000t.

Domestic calcined gypsum consumption totalled 17.2Mt, down by 1% from 17.4Mt. Calcined gypsum imports rose by 8% to 29,000Mt from 26,900Mt. Crude gypsum consumption also fell, by 3% to 40.9Mt from 42.0Mt. Crude gypsum imports fell by 2% to 6.03Mt from 6.14Mt. Mexico overtook Spain as the leading exporter of crude gypsum to the US in 2020.

Spain: France-based Saint-Gobain has announced plans for a new Euro40m production line at its Quinto gypsum wallboard plant near Zaragosa, Aragon. The line will integrate recycled raw materials use and an Industry 4.0 digitisation programme to increase production, warehousing, transport and delivery automation.The scheduled commissioning date for the expanded facility is in 2022. When operational, the line will generate 70 new direct jobs. The government of Aragon has declared the work a project of regional interest.

The group says that the new line will enable it to capture the growth of the Spanish market and its rapid shift towards more complex needs and especially more lightweight construction systems.

Spain: Saint-Gobain Placo has launched Placo Hermetic, a gypsum-based hermetic system for application to building envelopes. The company says that the product is the first of its kind to be gypsum-based that meets the Passivhaus standard. The Catalonia Institute of Construction Technology (ITEC) has certified the system with a Document of Suitability for Use (DAU).

The producer said “With this DAU, Saint-Gobain Placo continues to guarantee the suitability of its solutions, providing professionals in the sector with more sustainable and efficient systems that adapt to different projects and requirements, with total safety and reliability.”

Spain: Saint-Gobain Placo has announced the launch of 4PRO Active’Air, a laminated gypsum wallboard for use in ceilings. The company says that the product improves the air quality of rooms by absorbing pollutants with its Active’Air technology. The boards also have tapered edges for a join-free fit.

The producer said, “4PRO Activ'Air is presented as the most complete and efficient construction solution for the creation of continuous ceilings with a smooth and perfect finish, thanks to its fine edges, which increase the resistance between the joints and reduce the risk of cracks. In addition, it increases productivity thanks to its easy and fast installation, and offers great flexibility in construction, since it adapts to any type of project in the realisation of both regular and rounded shapes.”

Spain: Saint-Gobain subsidiary Saint-Gobain Placo supplied and installed its Placo Hermetic watertight gypsum wallboard at the site of a solar-powered house. Interempresas News has reported that Austria-based Sunthalpy Engineering was responsible for the design and build. Following a successful trial, the developer disconnected the house from the electrical grid. It will run on direct and battery-stored solar energy.

Spain: Saint-Gobain subsidiary Saint-Gobain Placo has participated in the renovation of Madrid’s Julián Antonio Sánchez Municipal Auditorium in San Martín de la Vega with the supply of sound-absorbing gypsum wallboard solutions. The company says that it used its 12.5mm Rigitone 8/15/20 Super laminated boards on the walls of the building. It said it selected the product for its high acoustic performance, and improvement of indoor air quality. It added, “This improvement in acoustic absorption will allow the sound to be better distributed within the auditorium and, that reverberation does not occur in it, which will improve the comfort of the users.”

The company said, “The use of Rigitone 8/15/20 Super in the renovation work of the Julián Antonio Sánchez Municipal Auditorium has managed to improve the acoustics of the auditorium, create a healthy environment for the people who come to it, in addition to offering an aesthetic and design finish functional as well as modern, essential in this type of enclosure.”

Spain: The Port of Carboneras has reported the movement of a total of 350,000t of gypsum by importers and exporters in the first five months of 2020, up by 4% year-on-year from 337,000t over the corresponding period of 2019. Gypsum was the only product to experience an increase, with coal volumes over the period falling by 96% and cement volumes by 55% due to the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak on construction and other industries.