Gypsum industry news

Romania: Germany-based Knauf has announced plans for the construction of a new gypsum wallboard plant at Huedin in Cluj County. The company said that it plans to invest Euro76m in the plant’s construction. It says that the investment will advance the Romanian government's 'energy savings offensive' by supporting a renovation drive for the country’s housing stock. The government aims to increase the national area of modern renovated properties by a factor of six, with a Euro30bn allocation from its Recovery and Resilience Fund.

Knauf's managing partner Alexander Knauf said “The commitment demonstrates our trust and confidence in the country and our employees. We look forward to becoming part of the local community. Together, we are setting new standards for building and living in Romania.”

Knauf had previously planned to build a 35Mm²/yr gypsum wallboard plant at Huedin at a cost of Euro70m. A mine at nearby Aghireșu would supply the planned plant with raw materials. The Aghireșu mine reportedly has 100 years' worth of gypsum reserves. Knauf first delayed its Huedin plant plans in 2009 in light of the economic situation at that time.

New Zealand: Fletcher Building Materials recorded consolidated sales of US$5.37bn during its 2022 financial year, up by 4.7% year-on-year from US$5.13bn in the previous year. Its net earnings also rose by 42%, to US$273m from US$193m.

The group's building materials division, which includes Winstone Wallboards, contributed US$1.02bn-worth (17%) of group sales. The business delivered 'strong' volumes, with pricing initiatives effectively offsetting cost inflation. The latter particularly impacted imports of raw materials. The business made capital expenditure investments of US$129m, of which US$98.4m went towards the construction of Winstone Wallboards' upcoming Tauriko gypsum wallboard plant in the Bay of Plenty region. The plant's commissioning in 2023 will increase the company's production capacity by 30% and reduce its CO₂ emissions and waste generation.

Fletcher Building Materials chief executive officer Ross Taylor said "The 2022 financial year has not been without its challenges. Global and national supply chain disruptions have continued into the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic. In New Zealand, surging plasterboard orders following the first quarter lockdown outstripped our ability to supply, despite our manufacturing facilities running at record levels. In recognition of our key role as a local manufacturer in keeping the market supplied, we carried out a range of measures to address the shortage including operating production lines 24/7, running down inventory, importing additional product, and establishing an emergency supply pool." Taylor added "The New Zealand Commerce Commission recently published its interim market study report into residential building supplies. The final report and recommendations will be published in December 2022 and in the meantime we will continue to work collaboratively with both the commission and the government."

UK: Etex subsidiary Siniat says that its upcoming second gypsum wallboard plant at its Bristol site will help it to achieve 30% post-consumer gypsum recycling in its UK wallboard production by 2025. The new plant is scheduled for commissioning in 2023. The producer secured its supply of recycled gypsum from local waste management subsidiary Crucible Gypsum Recycling in 2020. The plant will also supply some of its water consumption from rainwater harvesting on-site. Electric charging stations will eventually support a 100% electric forklift fleet at the site.

Siniat will also invest Euro11,900 towards cycle and pedestrian paths to improve access to the Bristol site.

India: Saint-Gobain India plans to invest US$759m – US$1bn between 2021 and 2025 to expand its light materials capacity. The Hindu newspaper has reported that the majority of the investments will go towards capital expenditure projects, while the remainder will fund new acquisitions and accelerate the company’s digitisation. It estimated that new acquisition will total US$144 – 150m in value.

US: Eagle Materials offset higher energy and maintenance costs by raising the prices of its products in the first quarter of its 2023 financial year. This contributed to an 18% year-on-year sales rise to US$561m. The group achieved earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$184m during the quarter, up by 13% year-on-year.

President and CEO Michael Haack said "Our results this quarter exceeded our expectations, as our portfolio of businesses performed well, and we executed on the opportunities available to us. Construction activity remained healthy across our markets, and we realised broad pricing gains across our portfolio again this quarter."

The producer’s light materials sales rose by 30% year-on-year to US$248m due to increased gypsum wallboard sales volume and prices. Wallboard volumes increased by 5% to 74.1Mm2; their average price increased by 24%. Haack said “In our light materials sector, wallboard shipments and orders remain strong, but we recognise quantitative tightening will likely have an impact on residential construction activity in the future. In the near term, we expect record home construction backlogs to support product demand this year. With Eagle's excellent balance sheet, the favourable geographic positioning of our operations and consistent execution of our operating strategies, we are poised for a strong fiscal 2023."

Hungary: Slovakia-based Stavmat Epitoanyag Kereskedelmi has produced its first batch of wallboard from recycled drinks cartons at its Kaposvar pilot plant in Somogy County. MTI – EcoNews has reported that the company plans to install two further production lines at the site by January 2023.

The full-scale plant will cost US$10.6m, employ 20 people and consume 50 – 70t/yr of waste drinks cartons. Stavmat Epitoanyag Kereskedelmi plans to establish a carton collection service across Southern Transdanubia. The present commissioning may lead to the establishment of a second, 10-line plant at a cost of US$21.2m.

Kazakhstan: Alina Group plans to invest US$112,000 in the construction of a gypsum wallboard ‘mini factory’ in Almaty Region. Kazakhstan Newsline has reported that the company expects to commission the facility in 2022. The group is already engaged in the construction of two building materials plants in the region, at a total investment cost of US$35.9m.

Canada: Saint-Gobain has shared plans to install a US$3.19m waste heat recovery (WHR) system at its Vancouver gypsum wallboard plant in British Columbia. It has secured US$1.12m in funding from the provincial government’s CleanBC Industry Fund for the project. The producer says that the installation will increase the plant’s energy efficiency and reduce its CO₂ emission by 10%.

Saint-Gobain said “This project will help our company to maximise our positive impact for our customers and the communities where we do business, while minimising our environmental footprint. We thank the CleanBC programme for its support, and look forward to many more years of sustainable, state-of-the-art manufacturing in Vancouver.”

UK: Etex has awarded a contract for construction of its new Euro167m Bristol gypsum wallboard plant in North Somerset to McLaughlin & Harvey. The plant will include a post-consumer gypsum recycling facility and is scheduled for commissioning in 2022.

Brazil: Saint Gobain has predicted a 40% year-on-year turnover increase from its Brazilian operations to US$2.63bn in 2021. It said that it expects demand for its products from civil construction to have accounted for 67% of its income for the year.

In 2021, Saint-Gobain invested a total of US$52.6m in its Brazilian operations, consisting of 56 sites. It aims to increase its total income by 15% in 2022 compared to 2021 levels. During the year, it plans to commission a new gypsum wallboard plant at Mogi das Cruzes in São Paulo.