Global Gypsum Newsletter

Issue: GGM26 / 14 June 2016

Headlines


Germany: The European Commission has approved Euro33m investment aid to Hamburger Rieger. It designated the aid as being in line with European Union (EU) state aid rules, in particular the Guidelines on Regional State Aid for 2014 -2020, because it furthers regional development without unduly distorting competition in the single market. The German producer of paper and plasterboard liner has plans to invest Euro363m to upgrade its paper production capacity by setting up a new stock preparation process and building an additional paper machine in its plant in Spremberg.

"It's important that public investments foster economic growth in disadvantaged regions in Europe. We have carefully assessed the project. The investment aid to Hamburger Rieger will further develop the region without distorting competition and will help bringing truly innovative production processes to market," said EU Commissioner in charge of competition policy Margrethe Vestager.


India: Gyp Elite India Private Limited in Nellore, Andra Pradesh plans to build a new gypsum wallboard plant in southern India. The plant will have a 300t/day calcination production capacity and a 10Mm2/yr wallboard capacity. It will also be able to produce ceiling tiles, grids and steel sections. Construction is set to start in August 2016 with commercial production scheduled for late March 2017. The project has an investment of US$15m.


UK: Claude-Alain Tardy, the president of Saint-Gobain's gypsum and insulation activities, has warned that a UK exit from the European Union (Brexit) could 'destabilise' the wider European economy as well as impacting the UK market. Tardy made the comments while speaking to Building in Prague and Building News then reported his comments. France and western Europe represented 70% or Euro27.7bn of the group's sales revenue in 2015. The UK will hold a referendum on membership of the European Union on 23 June 2016.


Vietnam: Knauf Vietnam has inaugurated a 20Mm2/yr gypsum wallboard plant in Haiphong. The plant had an investment of Euro30m.

"After only two years of operation in Vietnam we have gained product presence in key market segments and regions, which we believe will increase with the supply of our new locally produced products," said General Director David Victor Thomas to state media.


South Korea: USG Boral plans to increases production at its Dangjin, South Chungcheong wallboard plant by at least 30Mm2. Currently the plant, operated by USG Boral Korea, has a production capacity of 70Mm2. Work on the upgrade will start in the fourth quarter of 2016 and the extra manufacturing lines are expected to be fully operational by the end of 2018, according to the Korea Times.


US: USG has sold its gypsum mine in Empire, Nevada to the Empire Mining Company for US$10.3m. The Empire Mining Company purchased the mine and associated land on 27 May 2016, according to land records accessed by the Reno Gazette-Journal. USG shut the mine in late 2010 and the locale has since been described as a 'ghost town'. USG has not commented on the sale.


Oman: Kunooz Oman Holdings has appointed Scott Watson as its new general manager for Al Rawas Mining Co. Watson is a mining engineer who graduated from the Camborne School of Mines with a BSc in Mining and a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Ulster in 2006.

Watson has previously worked for four years as a general manager at Yeoman Halsvik, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, producing and shipping aggregates to northern European and other offshore markets. Prior to this he was a senior manager at Lagan Group in Ireland, the UK and Poland working on aggregates for road surfaces. He has also worked as a mining engineer with Anglo American Corp in South Africa.


US: Eagle Materials has reported that its revenue rose by 7% year-on-year to US$1.14bn in the financial year that ended on 31 March 2016 from US$1.07bn in the previous period. Its earnings fell by 18% to US$153m from US$187m.

By business sector its gypsum wallboard operating earnings rose by 9% to US$159m from US$146m. Its wallboard sales volumes rose by 8% to 222Mm2 from 205Mm2.


Canada: The directors of the NuGyp Corporation are inviting sealed bids for the purchase of the patents and the intellectual property of the NuGyp process. The NuGyp process is a technique for reducing the water demand of beta plaster. Patents have been granted in 27 countries to date and further applications are pending to cover all major markets in the world. The deadline for the bidding process is 1 August 2016.

The process has been operated at up to 72t/hr in a plant running two plasterboard lines. Another installation is set to come on-stream soon. Two multi-plant companies are also interested in the technology. The technology is developed and ready for commercial use by a company that can provide full calcination technology to the industry.

NuGyp was formed in 2008 by Bob Bruce, Gary Murray and Charlie Blow to develop and commercialise new technologies related to the production of low water demand hemihydrate plaster for use in the gypsum industry. The NuGyp process has patents granted or pending in over 70 countries worldwide and covers all major gypsum producing territories.


US: Continental Building Products' net sales have rise by 21% year-on-year to US$111m in the first quarter for 2016 from US$92m in the same period in 2015. Its wallboard sales volumes have grown by 32% to 57Mm2 from 44Mm2.

"Our wallboard volumes in the first quarter increased substantially from prior year due to strong underlying demand, favourable weather speeding up completion of projects, and pre-buy activity in advance of the April 1 price increase," said Jay Bachmann, Continental's chief executive officer.


US: Gypsum Management and Supply (GMS) has acquired Wall & Ceiling Supply Company, a Seattle-based distributor of wallboard and construction products for residential and commercial applications. The company will continue to operate under the name Wall & Ceiling and the management team will remain intact.


Cuba: Rose Petroleum has targeted Euro1m towards developing opportunities to process and manufacture gypsum and associated building materials. The natural resources company said in a statement that it was in direct discussions with a government-owned gypsum company and the relevant ministries regarding a potential transaction. No terms or specific timing of any transaction have been agreed.

"The Cuba project is a very exciting development for Rose which we believe could deliver significant value in the short term, in isolation of the oil price environment," said Matthew Idiens, chief executive officer. "It is worth noting that, at present, there is no domestic supply or production of gypsum panels or wallboard for the construction of internal walls and providing domestic sources is naturally very important for Cuba and its development."

The opportunity was introduced to Rose Petroleum by Earth Source Investment, who had made initial contacts with the Cuban government, in return for shares in Rose Petroleum and non-executive board seats should the deal compete successfully.