Gypsum industry news

Belarus: Belarusian gypsum wallboard demand will decrease by 12.5 - 17% in 2015, according to OJSC Belgips and FLLC Knauf Marketing, key players in the country. According to the companies' executives, the fall is a consequence of reducing funding of the construction industry and a decline in commercial real estate.

"In 2014, gypsum wallboard consumption in Belarus amounted to about 12Mm². In 2015, we estimate that the consumption will decrease to 10 - 10.5Mm²," said the director of Belgips, Stanislav Babitsky. The director of FLLC Knauf Marketing Alexander Babkin confirmed the 2014 market size at 12Mm² and said that he expects demand in 2015 to fall to 10Mm².

The head of corporate communications of Knauf for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Leonid Moose said that the main consumer of wallboard in Belarus was the business-to-business (B2B) sector, namely, the commercial real estate market. Out of the total wallboard consumption, the B2B sector had 70%, while the business-to-consumer (B2C) sector had 30%.

"The commercial real estate market is falling, while the population is beginning to save money and invest it in repairs. For this reason, we are observing the fall of consumption of gypsum wallboard and, at the same time, the growth of consumption, in particular, of dry building mixes, whose main consumer is the B2C sector," said Moose. "Meanwhile in Europe, wallboard is being increasingly used for partitions in individual building more than in Belarus."

Meanwhile, the demand for gypsum wallboard from the population has intensified, according to Babitsky. "The consumption of wallboard is increasing due to the growth in framed-monolithic housing in Belarus. During the last two years, the consumption growth was 20%. It smoothes the fall in demand from the commercial sector," said Babitsky. He added that another negative factor on the Belarusian market is the increased competition on the part of Russian players because of the Russian Ruble devaluation and the Russian wallboard market narrowing. Russia's wallboard production is around 600Mm²/yr, while consumption is 250Mm². As such, exports to Belarus have increased.

Belgips plans to develop new products for sale on the domestic and export markets. According to Gubanova, the company is considering entry into Lithuania and Latvia.

Pakistan: DFB Gypsum Industries has announced that it is building a new gypsum facility in Hattar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The new plant is expected to start production in the middle of 2016. It will have a 100,000t/yr plaster line and a 6Mm²/yr wallboard line.

Turkey: Onat GYPS has officially opened its new 25,000m²/day capacity gypsum wallboard plant near its gypsum plaster plant in Ankara, Turkey. The machine and automation systems were developed by Grenzebach Maschinenbau GmbH engineers.

New Zealand: Auckland's first comprehensive recycling facility for building industry waste, including wallboard, has been opened by the environment and building and housing minister Nick Smith, according to Live News.

"This new recycling facility is about greening the building industry, enabling 30,000t/yr of construction and demolition waste to be diverted from going to landfill. It will enable thousands of tonnes of wood, wallboard, steel, plastics and aggregates from the construction sector to be sorted and re-processed into a reusable form," said Smith.

The US$2.78m facility is part-funded by a government grant of US$1.39m from the Waste Minimisation Fund and has created 15 jobs in the local Onehunga community. The fund was established by the government from a US$6.6/t levy on waste going to landfill that was introduced on 1 July 2009. Over US$39.6m has been used to fund more than 100 projects in the past five years.

"The opening of this new facility is very timely with Auckland on the brink of its largest ever building boom. The house build rate has increased from 4000/yr to 8000/yr since 2011 and is expected to grow to over 12,000/yr. Each home constructed generates 4t of waste and it makes sense to recycle as much of this construction material as possible," said Smith.

Wood, plasterboard, steel, plastics, aggregates and cardboard are being targeted by CID Resource Recovery for recycling or reuse. Wood will be further processed into biofuel for industrial kilns, while old wallboard can be recycled for use as a soil conditioner. Scrap steel will be extracted by magnet and delivered to metal recyclers for processing and sale on the local or export markets. Various grades of plastic, card and paper will go to local recyclers for processing. Aggregates will be used locally for hardfill or drainage material on building or infrastructure projects.

"This sort of practical approach to recycling typifies the Government's Bluegreen approach to waste. We are partnering with business to find economically-viable ways to recycle waste and focusing on those areas where there are the biggest gains. This initiative is particularly significant as construction and demolition waste makes up half of New Zealand's total waste going to landfill," said Smith.

Russia: According to Interfax, Bratskekogaz, which is controlled by Rosneft subsidiary Itera, has concluded a contract to supply Knauf Gips Baikal with compressed natural gas from the Bratskoye field in Irkutsk.

Bratskekogaz has signed agreements to supply compressed natural gas to Knauf Gips Baikal, which has a current demand of 25Mm³/yr. The implementation period is 2016 – 2017. It was reported previously that Knauf CIS was in talks with Itera to supply compressed natural gas to Knauf Gips Baikal to reduce production costs. Knauf Gips Baikal currently operates on liquefied gas delivered from Krasnoyarsk, Tyumen and Omsk, which is 260% more expensive than natural gas delivered by pipeline. This has made it difficult to compete with imported gypsum wallboard and dry construction mixes from China and South Korea.

Knauf will invest US$1.5m in the project to switch to compressed natural gas. The money will be used to build a gas acceptance facility and rebuild the burners and pipelines. The supplier is responsible for building the compressor station and supplying the compressed natural gas tankers for transportation.

Russia: According to ENP Newswire, VTB Bank and Volma have signed two loan agreements worth Euro9.55m over three years. Volma will use the funds to finance the construction of a new plant in the Republic of Adygea and to increase its working capital.

"Supporing manufacturers is one of the bank's priorities, given the importance of the real economy sector to Russia. Volma is a major producer of finishing materials and a serious competitor for West European companies. I'm sure that the bank's support will help it strengthen its position both in Russia and in foreign markets," said Mikhail Oseevskiy, deputy president and chairman of VTB Bank management board.

"VTB Bank is very important for Volma's growth, especially in the current difficult economic situation. It is a strategic financial partner and its assistance has helped us increase our business in recent years,' said Volma director general Vladimir Ovchintsev.

Romania: According to News website ZF English, Siniat Romania, part of Belgium's Etex Group, has completed the construction of its Euro50m, greenfield wallboard plant in the southern city of Turceni.

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.

UK: Mid UK Recycling Limited plans to extend its Wilsford Heath waste management facility at Ancaster, South Kesteven in Lincolnshire. If its plans are approved, the plant would recycle up to 350,000t/yr of waste mattresses and plastics.

Chris Mountain, managing director, said that the investment could run into 'multiple millions' of Euros. "We are an existing business, we employ 350 people in Sleaford, Caythorpe and the Ancaster site," said Mountain. "We will put in the main planning proposal in the next three months and as soon as we get the green light we'll start straight away." He said that initially the company wants to start by the end of December 2015, although it may take three years to complete the expansion. "We have been four years developing the site next-door, which is full to capacity now," he said. "The range of products we produce is getting wider and wider. It makes no sense to export those jobs out of the county."

There would be a building for machinery that could break down mattresses into resalable parts. Leftovers would form solid recovered fuel (SRF) products, which could by cement plants and power stations. Another building would be created for packing and storing gypsum from recycled wallboard, which would be sold to supermarkets as cat litter. The business would also bring in a new way of recycling rigid plastics, breaking them down into granules to sell to Lincolnshire manufacturers of drainage pipes, water pipes and car parts.

Egypt: Sales from Knauf's recently opened wallboard plant in Suez could reach US$15m in Egypt and Africa during the first year of production, according to Alexander Knauf, managing partner of the company. The company plans to sell 8Mm2 of gypsum wallboard during the first year of operation, Knauf said in a statement.