Gypsum industry news

US: USG plans to upgrade its Jacksonville gypsum wallboard plant in Florida. As part of the investment, a new production line will be added to manufacture USG’s Securock ExoAir 430 panels. Investments will be made at the site to improve overall plant efficiency, including upgrades to modernise process mill equipment.

Construction and plant updates are expected to be completed by the end of 2018. The company also plans to add approximately 20 new jobs as a result. The addition of the high-speed, automated production line in Jacksonville is intended to allow USG to distribute Securock ExoAir 430 to more customers throughout the US and Canada.

US: USG’s Washingtonville gypsum wallboard plant in Pennsylvania plans to spend US$8m towards automation upgrades in 2017. Plant manager Nicholas Latkovic told the Daily Item newspaper that the company also expects to spend US$8m or higher in 2018. The upgrade will include 20 automated guided vehicles and automated board handling equipment to speed up the production process by 20%. The investment is also expected to add four or five people to the total workforce of 125.

US: National Gypsum is upgrading its paper plant in Oxford, Alabama. The work includes replacing a boiler at the site first installed in 1950s, according to the Anniston Star newspaper. The investment is intended to reduce operational costs and increase energy efficiency. Paper produced at the plant is used in the manufacture of gypsum wallboard at the company's other plants. No value for the upgrade has been disclosed.

South Korea: KCC has completed the third gypsum wallboard line at its Seosan plant in South Chungcheong. Following the upgrade, the plant has increased its production capacity by 40% to 24.2Mm2, according to the Maeil Business Newspaper. Commercial production on the new line is expected to start in July 2017. KCC also says that it has become the largest wallboard producer in the country.

UK: British Gypsum has completed a Euro7.4m upgrade of its Barrow-Upon-Soar gypsum mine. The investment is expected to secure supplies of gypsum to produce gypsum wallboard for 20 years at the company's production sites at East Leake in Nottinghamshire and Fauld in Staffordshire, and at British Gypsum's sister business Saint-Gobain Formula based at Newark, according to the Loughborough Echo. The upgrade will allow the mine to be expanded using conveyors, fans and other mining equipment.

Russia: Knauf Petroboard and the local government of the Leningrad region have signed a Euro54m deal to upgrade a gypsum wallboard liner plant in Kommunar. Two thirds of the funds will be used to upgrade equipment at the site with the remainder targeted at treatment works, according to the Stroygaz newspaper. Start-up for the equipment is scheduled for the end of 2018. The agreement has been announced as part of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum framework.

Peru: Eternit Perú plans to spend around US$8.7m towards security, technology and plant productivity by 2020. Over half of this investment, US$4.4m, will be spent in 2017, according to the El Comercio newspaper. The building materials producer intends to double its gypsum wallboard business by 2020 and it has started a new marketing campaign to support this aim. It has recently won a government tender to build 2600 temporary homes using its wallboard system and it also plans to start exporting products to New Zealand in the short term.

Germany: Hamburger Containerboard has restarted production at its Gelsenkirchen plasterboard plant following a Euro20m upgrade project. The plant can now produce 0.25Mt/yr of uncoated containerboard, an increase of 20% from previously. During a three week shutdown the production width was widened to 5m and the film press and drying section were updated. In addition, a new pope reeler for wider tambour diameters and an upgraded soft-nip-calander were installed.

"With the restart at the start of the year we are happy to be online with probably one of the most efficient machines in the market again," said Andreas Noss, general manager of Hamburger Rieger.

Hamburger Rieger, with its three German paper mills in Spremberg, Gelsenkirchen and Trostberg is part of the Hamburger Containerboard Division with a total of seven paper mills and 2Mt/yr of produced container board. The Gelsenkirchen plant produces white testliner and grey plasterboard liner.

Canada: Cabot Gypsum is expanding to focus on markets along the eastern seaboard of North America. The decision follows upgrades on production equipment and maintenance procedures following investment from a Texan investor, according to CBC News. It has now started to expand its workforce and has added BlueGlass, a sheathed gypsum wallboard product, to its portfolio. The plant has a target of 650,000Mm²/month.

UK: British Gypsum has released plans to use natural gypsum instead of synthetic gypsum at its Sherburn-in-Elmet wallboard plant in North Yorkshire. The company wants to extend its mill building to aid the conversion as well as make some minor logistical changes at the site. The details were released as part of a planning application made to the local council, according to the York Press. If approved, British Gypsum says that the conversion will safeguard 130 jobs at the plant.

According to the planning statement, the current forecast for synthetic gypsum supply to the Sherburn plant projects that in late 2017 or early 2018, the plant's ability to continue manufacturing would be under threat. The plant is currently unable to grind natural gypsum rock on-site and operates solely on the use of desulphurised gypsum supplied from the Drax Power Station. The statement claims adequate and appropriate infrastructure is in place to meet the needs of the proposed development, including appropriate drainage to ensure there would be no increased risk of flooding from surface water run-off. It adds that the proposed development will be energy efficient and minimise energy consumption.