Gypsum industry news

Mexico: Panel Rey has announced that it will begin construction of a new wallboard plant in Cuidad Jurez, Chihuahau, Mexico. It will begin production in December 2016.

The plant is located 30km away from the US border at El Paso, Texas and will service the northwest markets of Mexico and Southwest in the US markets.

The company states that the production capacity of the plant is 15,000,000 boards/yr. It will also produce joint compounds and metal studs in the future.

The company states that it will continue its expansion in Central and South America.

US: USG Corporation has announced it has partnered with Honeybee Robotics, a spacecraft technology and robotics company, for the field testing of Honeybee's Planetary Deep Drill System. The field testing, which will take place at USG's Plaster City gypsum quarry in Salton Sea, California is part of Honeybee's broader Mars exploration program, which aims to better understand the planet and the capabilities needed to send humans to the planet by the 2030s.

"We are honored to be the only company in our industry to play a role in this innovative endeavour to advance planetary exploration and the broader field of science," said Dominic Dannessa, Senior Vice President of Operations and Chief Technology Officer at USG. "We believe innovation comes from inspired thinking inside our company and outside of it, so sharing our geotechnical expertise with Honeybee was a natural fit."

USG's Plaster City gypsum quarry was selected by Honeybee as the ideal site to test the Planetary Deep Drill due to gypsum's similarity to cryogenic ice observed on Mars, Enceladus, Europa and other planetary bodies. Honeybee will drill 100 feet into the depths of the gypsum quarry, which is significantly deeper than drills previously deployed to Mars were capable of accessing. The field test will assess the functionality of the Planetary Deep Drill and provide data for future improvements and enhancements. Scientists have suggested that inside gypsum crystals may be the ideal environment for life to exist on the surface or near surface or Mars.

Drilling at Plaster City will take place from mid-November 2015 until mid-December 2015.

Oman: Growing demand for gypsum, mainly from cement and wallboard manufacturers, should see exports from Oman reach 10Mt/yr by 2018, nearly double the present level, making it the fourth largest gypsum producing country, according to industry experts. Gypsum production is expected to hit 12Mt/yr by 2020.

Gypsum exports from Salalah Port rose from 4.15Mt in 2014 to 4.8Mt in the first 10 months of 2015. Exports are expected to reach 5.5Mt for the entire of 2015. Oman is the 10th-largest gypsum producing country in the world and is expected to become the sixth-largest in 2016, according to Zawawi Minerals' CEO Ramachandran. The US Geological Survey has estimated gypsum resources of around 950Mt in the southern part of the country. The gypsum demand growth is mainly from Asian countries like India, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh. There was a supply crunch from Thailand, where mineral mining had become heavily-regulated.

Zawawi Minerals partnered with United States Gypsum Corporation in 2012 and with Australia's Boral to launch the largest gypsum mining facility in the country. The US$16m, 3Mt/yr facility exports gypsum rock to India, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, South and East Africa, the UAE and Bangladesh. Zawawi Minerals also set up the Middle East's first Sheetrock brand gypsum wallboard plant in the Salalah Free Zone for US$37m. It has a production capacity of 10Mm².

"Oman has emerged as the single most important source for high grade natural gypsum for cement and gypsum wallboard manufacturers across Asia and South and East Africa. With higher production and little significant change in domestic consumption, Oman may continue to export the majority of its gypsum," said Ramachandran.

US: CertainTeed has announced that it is the first company in the gypsum manufacturing industry to offer Health Product Declarations (HPDs) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for wallboard products.

The newly-published HPDs and EPDs provide scientifically-robust and transparent information about environmental performance and third-party verification to confirm the true sustainability of a product. The declarations also allow products to contribute towards points in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building projects.

42 HPDs have been published to cover all CertainTeed gypsum wallboard product categories, including standard and specialty wallboard; Type X fire resistant and M2Tech moisture and mould-resistant wallboard products; GlasRoc exterior sheathing; AirRenew Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) wallboard; SilentFX noise-reducing wallboard and Easi-Lite lightweight gypsum wallboards. Six EPDs, grouped by manufacturing plant location, are also now available for Easi-Lite and 5/8-inch Type X fire-resistant gypsum wallboard.

Kenya: Erdemann Gypsum has warned of health dangers regarding indoor toxins from imported gypsum products made from synthetic gypsum. There is some concern that low levels of the heavy metals present in coal might be present in synthetic gypsum. The company mines gypsum in Kitui and makes gypsum wallboard, plasters, cornices, corners and medallions at its US$4.89m plant in the county.

"We should use natural gypsum building materials from natural gypsum, which is safe for our health," said Erdemann Gypsum Managing Director John Yang. "The government should inspect imported gypsum products to ensure they do not have chemical contaminants."

Yang has also asked the government to seal gaps used by 'unscrupulous importers' in dumping gypsum-based construction materials into the country, to protect local companies. He requested that the government protect local manufacturers of building materials, who, he said, faced unfair competition from imported building materials, which are sometimes under-taxed. "Recognition of players in the building materials industry by the government will go a long way in helping the investors feel secure in doing their business in the country," he said. "Our company is the first of its kind in Kenya and we have created a new avenue for government revenue collection, so we expect at least some protection from the government."