Gypsum industry news

New Zealand: The New Zealand government has announced the lifting of Level 4 lockdown outside of Auckland. Radio New Zealand News has reported that this will enable construction to resume. Inside Auckland, gypsum wallboard is among four ‘critical products’ that the government has allowed to resume production.

The Building Industry Federation (BIF) said that the government had listened to suppliers' concerns.

US: The Economic Development Department of the state of New Mexico has granted American Gypsum US$0.5m-worth of funding for an upgrade to its Albuquerque gypsum wallboard plant in Bernalillo County. The grant will facilitate equipment and infrastructure modernisation. The department says that the producer will invest US$22m in the state between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2022. It employs 140 locals including Pueblo Indian people, in whose lands its gypsum mine is situated.

State Governor Lujan Grisham said "This investment means New Mexico jobs will stay in New Mexico. I'm glad the state could partner with American Gypsum and ensure long-term viability of their operations, and stabilise a New Mexico employer."

India: The Industries and Commerce Department of the Andhra Pradesh state government has granted Saint-Gobain India an extension to the duration a package of financial incentives will be available for the construction of its new gypsum wallboard plant at Atchutapuram, Visakhapatnam. The company now has until June 2022 to commence commercial production, according to the Hindu newspaper. The producer’s total investment in the project is US$268m. When finally commissioned, the plant will employ 450 locals. It will also manufacture float glass.

Saint-Gobain India also received permission from the department to change its name to Saint-Gobain Industries.

Norway: France-based Saint-Gobain plans to upgrade its 13Mm²/yr Fredrikstad gypsum wallboard plant in partnership with state-owned sustainable energy agency Enova. The Euro25m upgrade will expand the plant’s production capacity by 40% and make it, what the producer says, is the world's first carbon-neutral plasterboard plant. One feature of the plan is electrification of the currently gas-powered production process. The upgrade will be completed in early 2021.

Saint-Gobain is considering implementing the net-zero CO₂ plant project across others of its gypsum wallboard plants.

New Zealand: The New Zealand Ministry of Finance plans to launch a commission to investigate high building materials prices. The New Zealand Herald newspaper has reported that finance minister Grant Robertson said that New Zealanders pay too much for building materials. Robertson indicated that any probe would look into gypsum wallboard among other building materials. Average national building materials prices are 20 – 30% higher in New Zealand than in Australia.

UK: Associated British Ports (ABP) has celebrated the commencement of a project to build a new plasterboard factory at the Port of Newport, Wales which will create around 60 new full-time jobs in the area.

The new facility will be used to store gypsum, which will be delivered by ship before being used for the manufacture of wallboard. This will eliminate the need to transport raw materials from the port to an in-land factory by road, which will help reduce CO₂ emissions. Furthermore, the factory will benefit from green power generated by ABP's on-site renewable generation units, including wind and solar sources.

As part of the project, ABP, together with a number of European-based inward investors, has invested around Euro27m to create the new manufacturing facility in Newport. The Welsh Government has also contributed Euro870,000 in support of the project.

UK: Durham County Council has granted Agricore permanent permission for its Hill Top Farm gypsum wallboard recycling plant near Darlington, County Durham. The Darlington and Stockton Times newspaper has reported that the gypsum producer had previously held permission on a five-year basis.

Locals in the rural former coal mining area had appealed against the application. Many of the 110 complainants claimed that heavy traffic had rendered a local lane dangerous to walk and cycle on. Agricore sells gypsum to local farmers for use as fertiliser.

The county council required that the company submit plans for a power supply transition from diesel generators to ‘a more sustainable alternative’ before 3 September 2020.

China: France-based Saint-Gobain plans to establish ten gypsum wallboard plants under the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s 14^th five-year plan. China Daily News has reported that the move aims to ramp up production capacity in order to meet growing gypsum wallboard demand. In 2021 building materials company intends to open two more units to produce calcined gypsum in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province and Huzhou, Zhejiang Province respectively.

Asia-Pacific regional senior vice-president and chief executive officer (CEO) Javier Gimeno said, “China has recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic in an exceptional manner. We have seen the quick recovery of the Chinese economy and the many industries that we serve. In our segment, the Asia-Pacific region has remained largely positive in the third quarter, driven by the continued strong demand in China." He added, “Our business growth in China is linked with the development of the Chinese society and the growth of China's middle-income earners, who are more demanding in terms of quality and performance of products.”

Oman: Oman’s gypsum exports fell by 4% year-on-year to 4.99Mt in the first seven months of 2020 from 5.20Mt in the same period in 2019. However, data from Zawawi Minerals shows that exports picked up by 28.7% year-on-year to 1.14Mt in July 2020 from 0.89Mt in July 2019. The government allowed industry to reopen in late June 2020 following a coronavirus-related lockdown.

Oman: The Ministry of Municipalities and Regional Resources says that commercial and industrial activities including gypsum manufacturing and installation can re-start operating following a coronavirus-related lockdown. The latest group of activities cleared to reopen covers over 50 commercial and industrial activities, according to the Times of Oman newspaper. The government initially implemented a lockdown in Muscat in early April 2020.