Gypsum industry news

US: Colin Hanson, one of the founders of gypsum wallboard moisture measurement expert Sensortech Systems, retired from his position of president of the company on 14 May 2020. A native of Southport in the north west of England, Colin Hanson established Sensortech Systems in Oxnard, California, along with Logan Mosteller and Bob Blankenship, in 1983. He had previously worked for leading moisture measurement equipment manufacturers in the UK and US and in the oil exploration sector in the UK.

Hanson was the pioneering developer behind Sensortech’s resonant frequency (RF) radio approach to moisture measurement. This offered higher accuracy, and hence control, to wallboard manufacturers, as it was more directly dependent on moisture content than the established techniques based on power-loss measurements. The RF approach has since risen to become the dominant approach to wallboard moisture measurement worldwide.

The company’s first product based on the RF approach was the ST-1100 moisture sensor range, which was replaced by the ST-2200 in 1992 and, subsequently, the ST-3300 range in 2018. Sensortech also produces the Instantaneous Moisture Profiling System (IMPS), which analyses moisture across the full width of the board, and has an extensive offering of near infra-red sensors. It most recently developed the Kiln Jam Detector for use inside board dryers.

As Sensortech grew in the 1980s and 1990s, Hanson took over the shareholdings of the other two directors. He became sole owner of the company in 1996. He sold Sensortech Systems to KPM Analytics on 14 May 2019, remaining as president until his retirement a year later. He will remain on hand in an advisory capacity and will continue to offer his insights and expertise to the company, with a focus on the development of existing and new products.

Speaking upon the sale of Sensortech to KPM, Hanson said, “There is a depth of talent within Sensortech, supplemented by KPM, that will provide a seamless transition to a successful future. KPM is putting resources into growing Sensortech, which is fantastic. The company has a development queue representing years of research but there are opportunities to accelerate that with KPM.”

Ron Geis, KPM Analytics’ President, has taken over the role of president of Sensortech Systems.

US: Gypsum wallboard distributor Foundation Building Materials reports that sales of wallboard fell slightly to US$202m in the first quarter of 2020. This was attributed to disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Overall its sales across all business lines rose, in part due to an additional business day in the reporting quarter compared to the same period in 2019. It noted lower sales growth in states with stronger lockdown measures, including Washington, California, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Overall sales in April 2020 were reported as being 20% down year-on-year.

US: The Gypsum Association (GA) has released a revised and updated environmental product declaration (EPD) for 5/8” (1.5875cm) type X North American gypsum boards. Following the standards set in the association’s recently revised product category rules (PCR) for North American gypsum panel products, the EPD provides environmental performance information addressing energy consumption, water consumption, global warming, waste, air emissions and other metrics related to production.

“The Gypsum Association has an ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship. The development and release of this new ISO 21930 compliant, Type III, cradle-to-shipping gate EPD, demonstrates our member companies’ efforts to transparently report environmental impacts as a means of contributing to sustainable design and construction,” said Steve Meima, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Association, executive director of the GA.

Type X gypsum board is commonly installed in commercial, institutional and multifamily/mixed-use facilities. Where fire resistance ratings are required, type X gypsum board is typically specified. The GA has also produced an EPD for glass mat gypsum panel products that will be updated in 2021 under the new PCR.

US: Johns Manville’s (JM) filtration products plant in Richland, Mississippi started production of nonwoven filtration media for use in face masks in April 2020. JM’s Engineered Products business decided to build on its existing capabilities and help meet market demand due to shortages in the US and Europe in relation to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Johns Manville is in a unique position to serve a market that is fulfilling a great need across the world,” said Mary Rhinehart, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of JM. “Our high-performance nonwoven material is designed to provide high levels of filtration for various types of face masks. We are proud of our teams in Richland and throughout JM for finding new ways to support the communities and people who are on the front lines of this global crisis.”

JM says its media meets or exceeds Level 1 BFE 95% (Bacterial Filtration Efficiency) and VFE (Viral Filtration Efficiency) requirements. These results were verified by a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) registered laboratory.

US: Eagle Materials Inc. has announced that Mary Ricciardello has been appointed to the company’s Board of Directors. Ricciardello also serves as a director on the boards of Devon Energy and Noble Corporation, serving as the Audit Committee Chairperson on both boards. Her previous board service includes seven years on the board of US Concrete. Ricciardello enjoyed a distinguished career at Reliant Energy, where she served in key roles, including that of Chief Accounting Officer.

Mike Nicolais, Eagle’s Board chair, commented, “We are extremely pleased to have Mary join our Board. Mary is a proven leader and will be a great complement to the strong leaders on our board today. The addition of Mary to the board is also timely in that it provides additional flexibility in light of prospective Board needs as we plan for the separation of Eagle Materials into two publicly traded companies.”

US: France-based Saint-Gobain subsidiary has reached out to ‘federal, state and local government to understand where and how’ it can redeploy ‘technologies, manufacturing operations and human expertise to help them address the covid-19 crisis.’ It also extended the offer of assistance to its partners, suppliers and customers ‘in their own efforts to help.’

US: GMS has reported a net profit over the three months to 31 January 2020, the third quarter of its 2020 fiscal year, of US$10.9m, up by 87% from US$5.83m in the corresponding quarter of its 2019 fiscal year. Its net sales over the period rose by 5.2% year-on-year to US$761m from US$724m. The company’s gypsum wallboard sales reached US$314m, up by 5.7% from US$297m in the third quarter of the 2019 fiscal year.

US: National Gypsum Company has published SoundBook 2.0, an updated version of its manual for technical information and architectural drawings of sound-rated assemblies for architects and contractors seeking to achieve required sound transmission class (STC) ratings on their projects. The publication includes details and drawings of 310 sound-rated assemblies for steel and wood stud construction, as well as for floor-ceiling applications. The book also features acoustical terms, concepts and proper installation methods for optimal sound control. The original SoundBook was published in 2015.

“Acoustical performance is one of the most popular topics covered by our Construction Services Team,” said John Bianchi, gypsum product manager for National Gypsum. National Gypsum’s goal in publishing SoundBook 2.0 is to provide architects, contractors and others involved in specifying products current information and illustrations on sound-rated wall, ceiling and floor assemblies.

National Gypsum has released several new acoustical gypsum products as part of the company’s SoundBreak XP family of products since the initial rollout of its SoundBreak XP Wall Board, including SoundBreak XP Retrofit Board, designed for use as an extra noise reducing layer over existing wallboard, and its most recent innovation, SoundBreak XP Ceiling Board, a board for floor-ceiling applications.

US: CertainTeed Gypsum plans to close its Cody gypsum wallboard plant on 3 April 2020. 50 jobs at the site will be lost when the subsidiary of France’s Saint-Gobain closes, according to the Associated Press. Saint-Gobain is reported to be attempting to sell the 26Mm²/yr facility.

US: Eagle Materials will call its Light Materials business the American Gypsum Company when it is spun-off in the summer of 2020. It has appointed Dave Powers, former Eagle Materials chief executive officer (CEO), will become the chairman of American Gypsum. Craig Kesler, current chief financial officer (CFO) of Eagle Materials, will become the president and CEO of American Gypsum.

The Light Materials business will continue as a producer of gypsum wallboard and recycled paperboard. It includes an integrated paperboard mill that supplies wallboard plants with facing paper as well as raw material reserves.