Gypsum industry news

France: Knauf France’s Fos-sur-Mer gypsum wallboard plant, which it inaugurated earlier in 2024, will receive 300,000t/yr of Spanish gypsum for use as raw materials, the Le Marin newspaper has reported. The plant is situated behind Sea-Invest Group’s mineral terminal at the port of Fos-sur-Mer. It has begun receiving its gypsum in regular shipments of 14,000t from the port of Garrucha, Spain.

US: CertainTeed plans to establish a new gypsum logistics facility in Jacksonville, Florida. The Saint-Gobain subsidiary plans to integrate a terminal dock operation on the St Johns River with environmental restoration of the riverside at an additional cost of US$70m. The site previously belonged to Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation until 1978.Construction is due to begin in 2022 and reach completion before 2025. Once operational, the dock will be equipped with a bulkhead, a conveyor, an unloading ramp, truck staging areas and a small office. The site will employ an estimated 32 people.

Vice president and general managerJay Bachmann “We are deeply grateful to the City of Jacksonville for their support of our new logistics facility on the St Johns River, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Greenfield to ensure the responsible stewardship of this Superfund site.” He added “This project will return a heavily contaminated Superfund site to productive use, creating dozens of full-time jobs and strengthening our company’s ability to serve our customers.”

UK: Logistics company AV Dawson has officially opened a Euro1.1m new canopy at its Teesside terminal in Middlesbrough to support its contract with British Gypsum. The 100m canopy provides dry-loading capabilities for imported raw materials for plaster and wallboard products to be stored and then loaded onto trains for delivery to British Gypsum’s operations in the East Midlands. Delegates from British Gypsum, the North East England Chamber of Commerce, Department for International Trade and rail freight operator, GB Railfreight attended the opening ceremony. AV Dawson’s contract with British Gypsum was signed in 2018.

Serbia: Elektroprivreda Srbije, a government-owned power company, has completed a Euro14m terminal on the River Danube for its Kostolac B coal-fired power plant. The unit will be use to transport 105,000t/yr of synthetic gypsum and 157,000/yr of fly ash. It will also process limestone. The terminal was built as part of the first phase of a credit arrangement between Serbia and China.