Gypsum industry news

Bhutan/Bangladesh: Gypsum exports from Bhutan to Bangladesh have declined substantially after a 5% duty was levied on the mineral in July 2015.

Figures from RSA Private Limited in Phuentsholing revealed a drastic drop in the last two months. RSA exported gypsum worth US$12,049 in August 2015 and US$24,781 in July 2015. In January 2015, RSA had recorded exports worth US$111,952. RSA is the principal company that exports gypsum to Bangladesh from Bhutan. There are about four manufacturers in the country that route their gypsum to Bangladesh through RSA.

According to the bilateral trade agreement signed between the two countries, gypsum is one of the 18 products from Bhutan that is exempted from paying tax in Bangladesh. However, the new tariff schedule the government of Bangladesh published for 2015 - 2016 specified that only importers registered as a supplier for agricultural products were exempted from this tax. All other establishments that imported gypsum from Bhutan for other purposes were levied a 5% tax. Since the gypsum exported from the country is not used as fertiliser, the number of importers has decreased in Bangladesh, disrupting demand and supply. Gypsum from Bhutan is imported mostly by cement manufacturing companies in Bangladesh.

The general secretary with Bhutan Exporters Association (BEA) Tshering Yeshi said that the harmonised system code notified by Bangladesh in July 2015 contradicted the existing code as per the bilateral trade agreement. "We discussed this issue during the joint sitting customs commission meeting in July 2015," said Yeshi, adding that the representatives from Bangladesh said that they would look into the matter immediately. However, there has been no developments to date. The bilateral trade agreement between the two countries allows 90 products from Bangladesh free of tax, while 18 products from Bhutan are duty free in Bangladesh.

US: Cemex USA, the US subsidiary of the Mexican building materials company Cemex, has signed an agreement for the sale of its gypsum wallboard business based in Florida to US LBM. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The proceeds obtained from this transaction, which Cemex said will not be for a material amount, will be used mainly by Cemex USA's affiliates for debt reduction and for general corporate purposes. Cemex said that the closing of this divestment is subject to the satisfaction of standard conditions for this type of transaction.

The company currently expects to finalise this transaction at any time prior to the end of 2015.

US: The Oxford Fire Department responded to a minor fire on 22 September 2015 at the National Gypsum Company in Oxford, Michigan.

A call first came in about a fire in the plant's paper bale room around 11:15am from an employee at the plant, according to Oxford fire chief Gary Sparks. Firefighters were on scene within three minutes of the call, extinguished the fire and left the scene by 12:40, said Sparks.

It is unclear how the fire started, but the sprinkler system held the flames in check until responders arrived on the scene. "There was minimal damage," said Sparks. "The majority of it was to the paper bales, but there was some smoke damage in the office area." There were no injuries reported during the incident and the plant was expected to be up and running before the day ended.

Russia: Knauf Gips has filed a lawsuit in the commercial court of Moscow against Prikamskaya Gypsum Company, Gipsopolimer (30.84% owned by Knauf), the Prikamskaya Gypsum Company trading house, the Erster trading house and GlavOptStroyTorg. Knauf Gips has demanded that the defendants be forbidden from using symbols similar to Knauf's trademarks and has claimed Euro61.1m. Knauf Gips has also demanded that counterfeit gypsum wallboard with its trademark be destroyed.

Oman: As the Omani national rail network currently under development connects mining sites with the Sultanate's maritime gateways, gypsum exports and other minerals will increase massively.

Oman Rail's general manager stressed that the switch from outdated truck-based shipping of minerals to rail-based freight, along with the deployment of high-capacity ship-loading systems, has the potential to send export volumes soaring. A 60,000t ship can take around 4 - 6 days to load using traditional transportation and loading techniques, so with the new system the goal is to advance that significantly by using high capacity methods of loading.

As the rail network becomes fully operational, the transportation capacity is expected to increase from an approximately 10 – 12Mt/yr to nearly 20Mt/yr.