Gypsum industry news

US: The Oxford Fire Department responded to a minor fire on 22 September 2015 at the National Gypsum Company in Oxford, Michigan.

A call first came in about a fire in the plant's paper bale room around 11:15am from an employee at the plant, according to Oxford fire chief Gary Sparks. Firefighters were on scene within three minutes of the call, extinguished the fire and left the scene by 12:40, said Sparks.

It is unclear how the fire started, but the sprinkler system held the flames in check until responders arrived on the scene. "There was minimal damage," said Sparks. "The majority of it was to the paper bales, but there was some smoke damage in the office area." There were no injuries reported during the incident and the plant was expected to be up and running before the day ended.

Europe: USG has entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of its interest in Knauf-USG Verwaltungs GmbH and Knauf/USG Systems GmbH and Co KG to Knauf Aquapanel GmbH for approximately Euro48m in cash.

The Knauf-USG joint venture manufactures and distributes Aquapanel brand cement panels throughout Europe (excluding Turkey) and all countries that were part of the former Soviet Union.

USG's equity method income in the Knauf-USG joint venture amounted to Euro1.79m for the year that ended on 31 December 2014. Upon the close of the transaction, USG anticipates recording a Euro2.68 – 6.26m gain. The closing of the sale is subject to the receipt of necessary governmental approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to take place by the end of 2015.

US: Lone Star Funds has agreed to sell 4 million shares of common stock in Continental Building Products (CBP) through an underwritten secondary offering. Based on the closing price of CBP's common stock on 9 September 2015, the offering is valued at approximately US$85.2m. The underwriter has a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 600,000 shares of common stock from the selling stockholder. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC is acting as the underwriter for the offering, which is expected to close on 16 September 2015.

US: H.I.G. Capital, a global private equity investment firm, has announced that its portfolio company ACG Materials, a vertically integrated producer and processor of high-quality minerals and aggregates including gypsum, limestone, sand, gravel and downstream food, pharmaceutical and plaster products, has acquired Art Wilson Company (AWC). AWC mines, processes and markets anhydrite, gypsum and limestone products used in agricultural, industrial, and commercial applications across Nevada, California, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It owns and operates a quarry and downstream production facility in Carson City, Nevada with additional owned reserves under development nearby.

"We are excited about the continued expansion of our operations into the Western US," said Paul Harrington, CEO of ACG Materials. "Art Wilson Company not only allows us to acquire the market leading supplier of agricultural gypsum serving California's Central Valley and surrounding areas, but also broadens our customer footprint, product portfolio and end market diversification. AWC has had a long and successful history since its founding by Art Wilson in the 1950s and we look forward to serving as great stewards of the business going forward."

AWC is the fifth add-on acquisition that ACG has completed since H.I.G. acquired ACG at the end of 2012 and marks the second acquisition in 2015. In February 2015, ACG acquired JA Jack & Sons, a Seattle, Washington-based miner and processor of limestone products.

US: Eagle Materials has reported that in the first quarter of its 2016 fiscal year, which ended on 30 June 2015, its revenues grew by 7% to US$285m, its earnings before interest and income taxes grew by 1% to US$60.4m, its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 10% toUS$84.6m and its net earnings grew marginally to US$37.8m.

First quarter net sales prices improved across nearly all businesses, with the most notable increases in the cement and concrete businesses. Extraordinarily wet weather in many of itscement markets, including Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado, adversely impacted the timing of cement sales volumes during the first quarter. However, Eagle Materials reported that its underlying demand for its cement continues to remain strong. In addition, all of its cement facilities completed their planned annual outages during the first quarter and cement maintenance costs were approximately US$3m higher than the prior year's first quarter.

Gypsum wallboard and paperboard revenues for the first quarter totalled US$136m, which were slightly lower than the same quarter of 2015. The average gypsum wallboard net sales price grew by 1% year-on-year, while wallboard sales volumes grew by 1% to 577Mft². Gypsum wallboard and paperboard reported first quarter 2016 operating earnings grew by 4% to US$46.9m. The earnings improvement reflects improved wallboard net sales prices, sales volumes and lower energy and paper costs.

US: In November 2015 Fenner Drives will launch PowerTwist Wedge Belts, a long-lasting upgrade to rubber wedge belts.

As the only twist-lock belt available in a wedge profile, PowerTwist Wedge Belts are engineered to combine the performance of a rubber wedge belt with the added-value design of link belting. PowerTwist Wedge Belts will be available in SPA and SPB profiles. 

The link design of PowerTwist allows for simple inventory management with easy, fast installation even on captive or fixed center drives. With a high resistance to abrasion and shock loads, PowerTwist is constructed to withstand extreme temperatures and is unaffected by oil, grease, water and common industrial solvents. 

PowerTwist Link Belting is the proven choice for a variety of industrial power transmission applications including cement, mining, aggregate, metal manufacturing, forestry and any wedge or V belt applications.

US: Saint-Gobain has signed an agreement to purchase Structus Building Technologies, Inc (SBTI) of Bend, Oregon. The company owns one production plant and with 60 employees.

Founded in 1996, Structus is a leading manufacturer of high-performance wallboard corner solutions with a very strong focus on innovation, improving the way the building industry designs and constructs wall systems. Saint-Gobain has distributed Structus products for many years in North America and Europe, making this project a 'natural fit.'

US: USG Corporation has reported results for the second quarter of 2015. On a consolidated basis, net sales grew by 2% year-on-year to US$970m. Operating profit improved by 7% to US$105m. Adjusted operating profit was US$118m in the second quarter of 2015, compared to an adjusted operating profit of US$87m in the second quarter of 2014. USG generated US$79m or, on an adjusted basis, US$78m during the quarter. Adjusted results exclude results from Gypsum Transportation Limited (GTL), a shipping operation that the company has exited, included in the gypsum segment.

"All of our businesses expanded their margins and contributed to our strong second quarter," said James S Metcalf, chairman, president and CEO of USG. "We generated the highest level of net income since the fourth quarter of 2006, when demand was 50% higher."

USG's gypsum segment generated US$98m of operating profit in the second quarter of 2015. On an adjusted basis, operating profit in the gypsum segment improved by US$20m, led by the US gypsum business. Wallboard provided US$14m of improved operating profit and the surfaces and substrates businesses contributed US$9m in total incremental profit. Favourable pricing and improved volumes coupled with lower natural gas costs and operational efficiencies drove the margin expansion in the US gypsum business.

"In the second quarter, our gypsum segment realised its strongest operating margin in over eight years," said Metcalf. "We are focused on expanding our margins and growing our non-wallboard portfolio of products in this business."

Commenting on the future of USG, Metcalf said that, "We made strides in all three phases of our 'Plan to Win' in the second quarter by strengthening our core operations, diversifying our earnings base and differentiating USG through innovation. The outlook for all of our businesses is bright."

US: The Gypsum Association (GA) has announced the release of the 21st edition of the Fire Resistance Design Manual (FDRM) GA-600-2015.

Revised on a three-year basis, GA-600 has been referenced by the model building codes as a source of fire resistive designs for more than 40 years. The 2015 edition contains nearly 100 new systems that supplement existing assemblies for walls and partitions, floor-ceiling systems, area separation walls and others. Among these are 20 new head-of-wall and base-of-wall systems that expand the options for perimeter relief.

The FRDM is currently referenced by the International Building Code and The National Fire Codes, as well as many state and local jurisdictions in the US and Canada as a source document for fire-resistance and sound-control rated designs that incorporate gypsum board in a variety of building systems. A recently revised ICC-ES Evaluation Report (ESR 1338) incorporates a reference to the 2015 edition of the Fire Resistance Design Manual as an acceptable source of generic fire-resistance and sound-control systems. Over the years, the FRDM has broadened to address sound and other factors of concern for designers, builders, code officials and the public, featuring more than 700 systems.

US: USG has announced nationwide availability of what the company calls, 'The lightest Type X wallboard,' USG Sheetrock Brand UltraLight Panels Firecode X. Depending on geography, the panel is available in one of two Underwriters Laboratories Inc (UL) type designations (type ULIX and type ULX).

The panels are a lightweight type X gypsum panel designed for commercial and residential construction. Both UL type designations of USG Sheetrock Brand UltraLight Panels Firecode X are formulated to achieve the strength and performance characteristics as standard 15.9mm (5/8") USG Sheetrock Brand Firecode Gypsum Panels. "The lighter weight means transportation efficiencies, productivity gains, reduced fatigue during handling and possible safety benefits," said USG's press release.

"USG is the only manufacturer to offer a full portfolio of lightweight products," said Dan Schmidt, director of product management wallboard at USG. "The new UL type ULIX panel was developed using a proprietary formulation. The primary difference between the ULIX and ULX panels is that the ULIX board requires the use of insulation in the cavity on one-hour fire-rated steel-framed assemblies, which is an industry best practice designed to meet thermal and acoustical performance requirements."

UL Type ULIX panels are available in the West North Central, Mountain and Pacific regions.

UL Type ULX panels are available in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic and East Central regions.