Gypsum industry news

Spain: Alberto De Luca, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Knauf Spain and Portugal, has been appointed as the president of the gypsum technical and business association (ATEDY). The association represents gypsum and plaster product manufacturers in Spain and Portugal.

De Luca has been the general director of Knauf Spain and Portugal for four years. The Italian national studied in Brussels, Belgium and joined Knauf Group in 2002. He held the postion of general director of Knauf Insulation for Spain, Portugal, Italy and North Africa for over eight years.

Spain: Knauf has launched its Knauf Fino product, a fine, high-performance for indoor use. It is classified as lightweight construction gypsum C7 / 20/2 according to the UNE-EN 13279-1 standard. It has CE Marking.

Spain: Pladur Gypsum has officially opened its 12Mm²/yr Gelsa wallboard plant. The unit had an investment of Euro60m and it has created 75 jobs, according to the Periódico de Aragón newspaper. Start-up at the plant began in September 2018 and full production started in January 2019. The unit currently has a three-shift work pattern and this is expected to change to four shifts by the end of 2019.

Spain: Saint-Gobain plans to invest Euro120m over the next three years in its local subsidiary. In an interview with the Cinco Dias newspaper, Gianni Scotti, the chief executive officer (CEO) for Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece and North Africa warned against rising electricity costs in the country. The bulk of the investment will go towards upgrading the Fábrica de Quinto wallboard plant in Zaragoza.

Spain: Saint-Gobain Placo Iberia plans to spend Euro4.5m on upgrades to its Fábrica de Quinto wallboard plant in Zaragoza. The project started in 2017 with an investment of Euro1m, according to the Heraldo de Aragón newspaper. In July 2018 the company plans to spend Euro0.5m towards improving the quality of its wallboard and preparing a production line for new products. The majority of the investment will go towards improving logistics at the unit and expanding its storage capacity. A new wallboard recycling plant is also planned.

Spain: Saint-Gobain Ibérica’s Sorbas gypsum quarry has marked a record of 17 years without any accidents. The local subsidiary of Saint-Gobain has gone 6500 days without incident. The milestone was recognised as the company signed an agreement to join a workplace health promotion program with the local government.

Spain: Saint-Gobain España’s sales rose by 8% year-on-year to Euro1.18bn in 2017. In an interview with the Expansión newspaper, Mediterranean Region chief executive officer (CEO) Gianni Scotti said that increased housing construction in Spain had driven demand for building products. He added that Spain represents 58% of the sales from the eight countries in the company’s Mediterranean region. The majority of the division’s sales come from products for the construction industry including gypsum wallboard and insulation. However, Scotti wanred that high energy costs in Spain are making the country less competitive compared to other parts of Europe.

US: United States Geoogical Survey (USGS) data reports production of gypsum-based board products rose by 2.4% year-on-year to 2.35Mm² in 2017 from 2.29Mm² in 2016. Mined gypsum production increased by 7% year-on-year to 18.2Mt in 2017 from 16.7Mt in 2016. Synthetic gypsum supply rose by 4% to 16.7Mt from 16Mt. Imports of crude gypsum rose by 12.7% to 4.89Mt from 4.34Mt. The major importing countries remained Mexico, Canada and Spain. Exports of gypsum board products fell by 30% to 0.71Mt from 1.01Mt. The mjaority of these products were exported to Canada.

Spain: Isolana has gained an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for its Isoplac laminated gypsum wallboard product. The EPD was registered in late January 2018, it will last five years and it was verified by Tecnalia R&I Certifcación. Isoplac A13 and A15 are laminated gypsum boards with double-sided cardboard and gypsum core, manufactured by continuous rolling process. Isoplac gypsum boards are installed in partitions, backings and interior ceilings forming systems that provide the acoustic insulation, thermal resistance and fire resistance required in each case.

Spain: Etex has become the sole shareholder of Pladur following the completion of a deal to buy all the remaining shares from Coemac. The deal was first announced in July 2017 and following customary closing conditions it closed on 22 December 2017. Pladur operates one gypsum wallboard plant near Madrid and it has been building a second plant at Gelsa that was due to open in mid-2017.