Global Gypsum Newsletter

Issue: GGM47 / 09 February 2022

Headlines


BNBM has announced two overseas gypsum wallboard plants since the start of 2022. In Early January 2022 the China-based producer said it was going to build a 40Mm2/yr plant in Thailand as part of a joint-venture with Sinoma International Engineering and its subsidiary Sinoma (Thailand). Notably the unit is also to be equipped with a decorative gypsum line. The estimated project investment is US$55m. Then, in February 2022 BNBM revealed plans to build a 40Mm2/yr gypsum wallboard plant in Bosnia & Herzegovina. This one is a joint venture with Rudnik i Termoelektrana Ugljevik (RiTE Ugljevik), a subsidiary of the local state-run power company. The project will be situated next to the coal-fired power plant at Ugljevik. No surprises then for what source of raw gypsum the wallboard plant is likely to be using! The estimated project cost is Euro50m.

These two projects join a pair of other plants the producer is also cooking up internationally. In mid-2019 it revealed new wallboard plants in Tanzania and Uzbekistan. The former is a 15Mm2/yr plant to be run via a subsidiary. It was reported to be in a construction phase in mid-2021. The latter is a 40Mm2/yr gypsum wallboard plant to be built in the Kokand Free Economic Zone, Fergana Region in Uzbekistan via a wholly-owned subsidiary. So far it is reportedly in the preparation stage. The company also has a number of wallboard plant projects in development at home in China, including plants currently being built at Shuozhou in Shanxi province and Yichang in Hubei province.

During the first half of 2021, BNBM’s operating income rose by 46% year-on-year to US$1.59bn from US$1.09bn. 65% of this was generated from its gypsum wallboard business sales. Overall, parent company CNBM reported gypsum wallboard sales of 2.01Bm2 in 2020 from BNBM and Taishan Gypsum.

A subsidiary of CNBM building production capacity outside of China will sound familiar to those readers who follow the cement industry. The industry has been using the Belt and Road Initiative to move redundant domestic capacity abroad as the local market has become saturated and environmental measures bite. Chinese cement production capacity per capita has seemed extraordinarily high by international norms over the last 20 years. Yet, gypsum wallboard production capacity per capita is a wildly different story. Global Gypsum Directory 2021 data suggests that the US had a rate of 12.7m2/capita compared to 2.4m2/capita in China.

With this in mind it makes one wonder why BNBM is bothering internationally given the market scope at home as China meets its climate commitments. As the move by some western multinational building material companies over the last year or so suggests, the future may lie in light building materials. On the other hand BNBM/CNBM may simply have its eye on the bigger picture. Just like its international competitors, it doesn’t want to miss out on the opportunity for market enlargement or being left behind if the ratio between heavy and light building materials switches. If it really means business, then the next steps could be wallboard plants in Western Europe or even the US. A US-based joint-venture for BNBM might help to make everyone forget the unending legal debacle with Taishan’s imports.


Japan: Chiyoda Ute’s revenue remained stable at US$165m in the first nine months of its financial year to 31 December 2021. Its net profit grew by 53% year-on-year to US$5.37m from US$3.52m in the same period in 2020. The gypsum wallboard producer reported that domestic house building had grown from March to December 2021 in tandem with a relaxation in coronavirus health measures from September 2021. It said that national gypsum wallboard shipping volumes grew by 2.4% to 344Mm2 in the nine months to 31 December 2021. It added that due to the capital and business alliance it started with Knauf Group in January 2020 it viewed its future prospects as ‘competitive.’ In late 2019 the Germany-based construction materials company increased its shareholding in Chiyoda Ute to 45% from 26%.


US: The Gypsum Association (GA) has released its revised guidance on levels of finish for gypsum panel products (GA-214-2021). This document is intended to assist design professionals, contractors and building owners to more precisely describe in project documents the finishing requirements for walls and ceilings prior to the application of paints and other decorative finishes. It was last revised in 2015.


Oman: Oman exported 8.74Mt of gypsum in 2021. Data from Oman-based Zawawi Minerals shows that the country had a 44% share of the gypsum export market to Asian, the Middle East and south-east Africa. Its main destination was India, followed by Bangladesh. Thailand followed with exports of 4.91Mt for both gypsum and anhydrite (32%) and then Iran with 4.2Mt (21%). Other exporting nations included Australia, Mexico and Bhutan. Total recorded exports to the region were 19.8Mt.


UK: Belgium-based Etex has announced a new UK trading agreement with Kier, a provider of construction and infrastructure services.The arrangement will see Etex and Kier collaborate on a variety of new projects using Etex’s products, including its Siniat brand wallboard.

Gerard Cox, Head of Procurement for Kier Construction, added “We are excited to include Etex Building Performance to our carefully selected list of preferred supply chain partners and look forward to engaging with them on our projects where we believe their range of products, warrantied systems and customer focussed approach, have the potential to add real value to our business.”

Etex previously said it plans to start operations at its new wallboard plant at the Port of Bristol in 2022. It has invested around Euro165m in the project that is set to double its production capacity in the UK.


Bosnia & Herzegovina: China-based BNBM plans to build a 40Mm2/yr gypsum wallboard plant in a joint venture with Rudnik i Termoelektrana Ugljevik (RiTE Ugljevik). The new company will be called BNBM Eastern Europe and based at Ugljevik, where RiTE Ugljevik operates the coal-fired Ugljevik Power Plant. The project has an investment of Euro50m with BNBM contributing Euro45m towards the total. Construction is expected to take 18 months, although a start date is subject to the joint-venture meeting certain conditions to the satisfaction of its parent companies. RiTE Ugljevik is a subsidiary of the state-owned power company Elektroprivreda.


US: Eagle Materials’ wallboard sales volumes fell by 4% year-on-year to 64.6Mm2 in the third quarter of its financial year to 31 December 2021 from 67.5Mm2 in the same period in 2020. The company blamed this on ongoing homebuilder supply chain difficulties and reported that its “order pace improved during the quarter.” Despite this revenue and earnings from its Light Materials division grew in the quarter.

For the nine months to 31 December 2021 the company’s Light Materials division revenue grew by 25% year-on-year to US$584m from US$469m in the same period in 2020. Gypsum wallboard sales volumes rose by 2% to 204Mm2 from 200Mm2. Earnings from the division increased by 40% to US$197m from US$140m. Overall company revenue grew by 13% to US$1.45bn from US$1.28bn.


France: Workers at Placoplâtre’s gypsum quarry in Baillet-en-France near Paris went on strike in late January 2022 following a breakdown in negotiations with management. The General Confederation of Labour (CGT) union has cited disagreements over changes to shift patterns, safety concerns and poor equipment, according to the Le Parisien newspaper. Placoplâtre responded that discussions are ongoing. A worker died at the mine in 2019 when a gallery roof collapsed.


US: The Construction & Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA) has formed a Gypsum Recycling Committee. It intends to work with key stakeholders in gypsum recycling to improve the recovery rate. Terry Weaver, the president of USA Gypsum, will be the first chair of the committee.

The committee will be comprised of companies involved in each step of recovering gypsum wallboard, including the manufacturers, the Gypsum Association, contractors, processors and end users. Initial actions will include: creating a wallboard diversion policy; developing end product specifications; creating best management practices for contractors and processors; working with drywall companies to set post-recycled content for new wallboard; updating the CDRA’s current Gypsum Recycling Protocol to reflect these actions; promoting that recyclers must be third-party certified using a program developed to an ISO level; and defining specifications for other end products made from recycled wallboard.


US: The US Geological Survey (USGS) reports that 17Mt of gypsum was mined in the first three quarters of 2021, a rise of 9% year-on-year from 15.6Mt in the same period in 2020. Imports grew by 14% to 5Mt but synthetic gypsum supply declined by 10% to 9.75Mt. Total gypsum board product sales grew by 8% to 1.94Bnm2 from 1.80Bnm2.


Spain: Knauf has received a 30 year extension to its quarrying permit supporting its Escuzar wallboard plant in Granada. The company also plans to increase production capacity at the unit, according to Europa Press. The plant was established in 2008 and it has a capacity of 50Mm2/yr.


New Zealand: University of Canterbury (UC) student Andy (Minhong) Park has developed a biocomposite wall panel that uses seaweed or algae as a bio-filler. Preliminary testing indicates the plasterboard-style product offers similar fire performance to other commercially available products. Using seaweed also provides moisture control properties. The finished seaweed plasterboard product has a glossy marble surface, coloured green, red or brown depending on the type of seaweed used.

“Seaweed is fast-growing at 0.5m/day and is capable of sequestering around 173Mt/yr. It’s easy to cultivate and can be farmed offshore, not competing for farmable land with other bio-based materials, making it an attractive, low-cost farming commodity. Because seaweed can absorb carbon underwater, large wall-panel manufacturers could employ seaweed farming as a carbon offset by growing it,” said Park.

The 12 week project was supervised by UC Product Design Senior Lecturer Dr Tim Huber in collaboration with UC Fire Engineering Lecturer Dr Dennis Pau. While still in the early stages of research, design and testing, the team is working with the UC’s Research and Innovation team to develop a commercialisation plan, and Kaiārahi Rangahau Māori to identify suitable species of seaweed for product development and marine agriculture. The project recently won the UC Innovation Jumpstart Greatest Commercial Potential Award and a US$13,000 prize.


Tunisia: Elizabeth Knauf has expressed Knauf’s interest in growing its production capacity for the local market and export. The group president of the board of directors met with Prime Minister Najla Bouden in mid-January 2022, according to the Agence Tunis Afrique Presse. Bouden praised the success of Knauf Tunisia’s training centres at Tataouine and Meknassy (Sidi Bouzid). The group acquired Plâtres Tunisiens in 2004 and operates a plaster plant at Meknassy.


Switzerland: Sika’s sales grew by 17.3% year-on-year to Euro8.96bn in 2021 despite the Covid-19 pandemic and procurement delays for raw materials. Sales increased in all regions with notable growth reported in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, the UK, the US, Latin America and China. The group said that in the Americas a strategic focus on business activities in metropolitan areas, major infrastructure projects and cross-selling helped it. Sika is also currently in the process of buying MBCC Group, a construction chemicals suppler previously known as BASF Construction Chemicals, for Euro2.8bn.

"2021 was expected to be a challenging year and it proved to be a very successful one for Sika. We are benefiting from a number of growth platforms and are in an ideal position to achieve long-term success,” said chief executive officer Thomas Hasler. “We have solutions in place for all the development stages of construction markets, and government supported investment programs running into the billions will provide further impetus for our business.


Thailand: BNBM plans to launch a joint venture with Sinoma International Engineering and its subsidiary Sinoma (Thailand). The new company will build and operate a 40Mm2/yr gypsum wallboard plant in the country. BNBM says that the plant will additionally be equipped with a 4Mm2/yr decorative gypsum line.