Gypsum industry news

UK: France-based Saint-Gobain subsidiary British Gypsum has announced the suspension of non-essential operations until 22 April 2020, subject to regular review in light of government advice. British Gypsum managing director Matt Pullen said, “Further information on when new orders can be placed and deliveries made will be available nearer the time, after the safe re-start of our operations.”

The company says that it will retain a ‘small-scale customer services, operations and logistics team to be able to provide drylining products to support those NHS and other Covid-19 response essential infrastructure and building projects.’

UK: Plans have been submitted for a gypsum wallboard production facility in Newport, Wales. Put forward by Associated British Ports (ABP), which owns the city’s port, the 15,000m² plant would be built next to Alexandra Docks. Once complete, the facility would be leased to a manufacturer by ABP.

A design and access statement prepared by Adams Hendry Consulting on behalf of the applicant said, “The manufacturing facility will make an important contribution to the local economy by providing new jobs, including manufacturing and office jobs. “It will generate approximately 70 full-time equivalent (FTE) direct jobs and it is estimated that the facility will support an additional 130 indirect jobs in the supply chain. The facility is expected to operate 24 hours per day over three shifts year-round.”

ABP requested an environmental impact assessment screening opinion for the application in July 2019, although Newport City Council decided in December 2019 that this was not required.

UK: Global not-for-profit organisation CDP has included Saint-Gobain on its Climate Change A-List 2019 for environmental transparency and performance aimed at facilitating a zero-net carbon economy. Only a handful of industrial producers achieved inclusion on the list, including US-based insulation producer OwensCorning and Germany’s HeidelbergCement and steel producer Thyssenkrupp. The company said that the listing commended its ‘ambitious commitment made in 2019 to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, in line with the +1.5°C warming scenarios.’

UK: Saint-Gobain subsidiary British Gypsum has announced the removal of customer Gyproc gypsum plasterboard allocations with the resumption of normal distribution of its flagship product on order for up to next day delivery. The company said that capacity increases in 2019 solved its supply issue. “The level of effort, innovation and ingenuity that has gone into improving our supply capability has been significant,” said British Gypsum managing director Matt Pullen. “We go into 2020 with renewed confidence and positivity.”

UK: British Gypsum’s mine at Brightling near Robertsbridge has provided gypsum samples to researchers from the Natural History Museum. The rock specimens are intended to aid the scientists in looking at signs of past life in preparation for a joint European Space Agency and Russian Roscosmos State Corporation mission to send a robotic rover to mars in July 2020, according to the Rye & Battle Observer newspaper. Previously, NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity found bright veins of a mineral, which appeared to be gypsum, in 2011.

"Minerals like those found at Brightling hide clues within them that can tell us about the history of liquid water where they formed, and they have the potential to trap and preserve organic material. Studying these natural fresh samples on Earth that mimic not just the minerals, but also the formation environments we see on Mars, will give us an insight into the potential for life to be detectable at the ExoMars2020 landing site," said Louisa Preston, UK Space Agency Aurora Research Fellow and member of the Department of Earth Sciences at the Natural History Museum.

UK: Belgian-based Etex has announced plans for a new gypsum wallboard plant in Portbury, near the Port of Bristol, to be commissioned in 2022. Its construction will cost Euro162m. Etex CEO Paul Van Oyen said the development ‘will strengthen our position in the UK – Europe’s largest plasterboard market – where there is a chronic housing shortage.’ Etex already serves the UK construction industry from its two gypsum plasterboard plants in Bristol and Ferrybridge.

UK: Logistics company AV Dawson has officially opened a Euro1.1m new canopy at its Teesside terminal in Middlesbrough to support its contract with British Gypsum. The 100m canopy provides dry-loading capabilities for imported raw materials for plaster and wallboard products to be stored and then loaded onto trains for delivery to British Gypsum’s operations in the East Midlands. Delegates from British Gypsum, the North East England Chamber of Commerce, Department for International Trade and rail freight operator, GB Railfreight attended the opening ceremony. AV Dawson’s contract with British Gypsum was signed in 2018.

UK: Associated British Ports (ABP) has proposed the construction of a new gypsum wallboard plant at the Port of Newport. The project is at the planning stage with the submission of an environmental impact report to the local government. The 14,000m³ unit will be built on brownfield land south west of the port’s South Dock. It will include a simple warehouse-type structure enclosing production lines, conveyor belts, storage loading areas and two hoppers. No cost for the project has been disclosed.

Gypsum for the production line will be delivered by ship and unloaded into a quayside storage facility. Plasterboard products will be distributed from the proposed plant mainly by road although export markets by sea could be possible. It is anticipated that around 70 jobs would be created by the plant.

UK: British Gypsum has chosen XPO Logistics to optimise its UK supply chain with a single, digitally-managed transportation network. XPO will create an integrated transportation network for British Gypsum using a customised delivery model deployed on its XPO Connect product platform. Distribution will take place from British Gypsum’s five manufacturing plants and four outbases in the UK. Additionally, XPO will manage all downstream processes, including load securing, yard management and weighbridge operations. XPO will also make an investment in new fleet dedicated to the British Gypsum network, using vehicles outfitted with telematics and safety technology.

“XPO has the scale and vision to help us manage our growth, while serving our customers with greater efficiency and a zero-harm safety ethos. We look forward to a long and collaborative partnership in the UK,” said Brian Fisher, distribution manager, British Gypsum.

UK: British Gypsum has signed a five-year contract with PD Ports to process its natural gypsum imports. The deal will bring raw materials from Europe into the country via Teesport every two weeks where it will be stored in a new bulk storage unit. The gypsum will then be dispatched by rail to British Gypsum’s plants at Kirkby Thore in Cumbria and Sherburn-In-Elmet in Yorkshire. No value for the deal has been disclosed.