Gypsum industry news

US: Saint-Gobain has agreed to buy construction chemicals producer GCP Applied Technologies. Reuters News has reported that the move continues Saint-Gobain’s industrial diversification, as it also seeks to maximise its growth opportunities from the US’s on-going infrastructure overhaul. Saint-Gobain expects to conclude the deal by 2023 and will finance the acquisition through cash on its balance sheet.

Chief executive officer Benoit Bazin said “After the successful acquisition of Chryso, GCP is the logical next step to expand Saint-Gobain's presence in admixtures and additives, which provide key solutions to de-carbonise the construction industry.” He added “This acquisition is a decisive step in establishing Saint-Gobain's leading position worldwide in construction chemicals, with total sales of more than US$4.51bn [combined], up from US$3.39bn.”

Australia: Cohiba Minerals has received notification that it has successfully secured a 5-year extension of its exploration licence for its Pyramid Lake gypsum mine in south-western Western Australia. The new lease will expire on 4 July 2026.

The company says that it has recommenced its application for a mining lease for the high-grade area of the Pyramid Lake mine, which is not covered by its present lease. It says that it had previously delayed the process due to a change in its application conditions.

Cohiba Minerals previously announced the planned expansion in December 2020 as part of a countrywide expansion of its extraction activities, towards which it was raising US$1.5m through a share purchase plan.

US: The government of DeSoto County in Mississippi has approved new rules banning the establishment of new phosphogypsum stacks in the county. The Port North Sun newspaper has reported that county commissioners unanimously approved the ordinance at a meeting on 26 October 2021.

Phosphate and potash producer Mosaic owns 9310ha of the county’s land area, of which it is seeking mining licences to cover 5670ha.

Commissioner Elton Langford described the ban as ‘preventative.’ According to the county’s Public Information Office, there were no pending gypsum stack licence applications in DeSoto County on 26 October 2021.

US: American Gypsum has received a licence from the Eagle County Board of Commissioners for the expansion of its 336ha Eagle County opencast gypsum mine near Gypsum, Colorado by 12% to 376ha. The Vail Daily newspaper has reported that the expansion will secure the company’s nearby gypsum wallboard plant’s raw material supply until 2046.

Plant manager Chuck Zaruba said “As the state continues to grow, we are an essential product for that to occur.” He added that the producer’s local operations provide more than 100 year-round jobs.

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.