Gypsum industry news

Canada: Saint-Gobain Canada has appointed Jean-Claude Lasserre as its CEO, effective 1 April 2025. Lasserre brings over 30 years of experience working for Saint-Gobain across multiple continents, most recently serving as Saint-Gobain Surface Solutions CEO in France. Lasserre succeeds Julie Bonamy, who oversaw US$2.77bn in strategic acquisitions for Saint-Gobain Canada, including of metal products company Bailey Group of Companies, roofing company Building Products of Canada and siding products company Kaycan.

Lasserre said "My primary focus will be to connect with our customers and support our teams as we continue our work to offer a complete portfolio of building products with our recent acquisitions, while reinforcing our commitment to sustainable construction. We are eagerly anticipating the completion of North America's first zero-carbon wallboard plant in Sainte-Catherine, Quebec, and the imminent launch of CarbonLow drywall."

US: Gypsum producers mined 22Mt of natural gypsum in 2024, according to the figures published by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Production rose by 2% year-on-year from 21.5Mt in 2023. The USGS listed California, Iowa and Kansas as the top producers among 15 gypsum-mining states in the US in 2024. 45 different mines contributed to the total. Major domestic applications for the gypsum included use as raw materials in the country’s 3.16Bnm²/yr-capacity gypsum wallboard industry. The sector sold an estimated 2.6Bnm² of wallboard throughout the year, up by 4% year-on-year.

The US exported 45,000t of natural gypsum during 2024, up by 2% from 44,000t in 2024. Its imports declined year-on-year, meanwhile, by 4%, from 7.77Mt to 7.4Mt – 17% of a total domestic consumption of 44Mt.

US: National calcined gypsum prices were US$63/t in 2024, up by 5% year-on-year, Statista has reported. The figure more than doubled decade-on-decade from US$27/t in 2014.

Ukraine: Knauf Ukraine has begun building its upcoming US$150m, 30Mm²/yr Ternopil gypsum wallboard plant in Ukraine, at Borshchiv in South Ukraine. Ukrainska Pravda News has reported that the plant will also produce 320,000t/yr of dry building mixes. Knauf Ukraine already operates a gypsum mine near the site.

Knauf Ukraine’s existing 25Mm²/yr gypsum wallboard and 200,000t/yr dry mix plant in Kyiv, Central Ukraine, employs 425 people, over 200 of them resituated from Knauf’s former Soledar operations in Russian-occupied Eastern Ukraine.

World: Research firm HTF Market Intelligence has projected 6.2% compound annual growth in the value of global sales of gypsum wallboard and plaster between 2024 and 2032. This would lead to a 54% rise over the eight-year period, from US$55bn to US$85bn.

Philippines: Thailand-based Shera aims to increase its market share in the Philippines building materials sector to over 40% by the end of 2025, BusinessWorld News has reported. Shera Philippines head Thunnop Jumpasri said that this will involve an expansion of its operations in Mindanao and Visayas.

This coincides with Shera’s launch of two gypsum wallboard products, the Gypsum Standard Board and Gypsum Moisture Resistant Board, on 21 November 2025.

US: Eagle Materials grew its sales in the first half of the 2025 financial year, which began on 1 April 2024, by 0.7% year-on-year. This resulted in revenues of US$1.23bn for the six-month period. The company’s earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) also rose, by 1.5% year-on-year to US$378m. Its gypsum wallboard segment generated revenues of US$433m, up by 1%, with 1% growth in volumes, to 140Mm².

President and CEO Michael Haack said “Eagle’s portfolio of businesses continued to perform well, despite ongoing adverse weather during the second quarter of the present financial year. We used our strong cashflow to continue advancing our long-term growth and value-creation strategies. We remain optimistic about our near-term and future opportunities and confident in our ability to execute on them. The current economic environment is constructive for our businesses. Employment is strong, recent inflation data should support a more accommodative monetary environment, spending from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is still in the beginning phases and housing supply remains chronically short because of decade-long production deficits.”

US: GMS recorded first-quarter sales of US$1.4bn in the 2025 financial year, which began on 1 April 2024. This corresponds to a 3% year-on-year rise from first-quarter 2024 financial year levels. Group adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 16% to US$146m. During the reporting period, GMS increased its gypsum wallboard sales by 3%, to US$588m. It reported an overall rise in sales volumes, buoyed by 4% growth in single-family residential construction, offsetting declines in multi-family residential and commercial construction. President and CEO John Turner nonetheless announced a new US$25m/yr costs reduction programme, due to on-going ‘market pressures.’

Turner said "We continued to focus on the execution of our strategic pillars and adapting to shifting end-market demand, and are managing costs more firmly across the business. We believe the market pressures we faced this quarter will likely persist over the next several quarters, at least until the expected reduction in interest rates can positively impact demand for our products.”

US: Xeriant plans to build plants to produce its NexBoard alternative wallboard panels. The company says that it has secured finance and selected equipment and sites. Discussions with banks over possible tax-free green bonds are on-going.

CEO Keith Duffy said "We are looking forward to having customised manufacturing plants that can meet the market demand from homebuilders who have committed to using our wallboards."

India: Saint-Gobain India plans to grow its gypsum business as part of a new investment phase, targeting revenues of US$4.3bn across its businesses by 2032. The Hindu newspaper has reported that this represents growth by a factor of three from 2023 levels. The investment phase will include total capex of US$719 – 959m from 2021 to 2025, with ‘significant’ allocations to gypsum activities. The company had invested US$1.58bn up to the end of 2023, including acquisitions in the gypsum wallboard segment.

Asia-Pacific and India regional CEO B Santhanam said "We have made huge investments in India, and quite a lot of them were in new plants."