Gypsum industry news

Australia: Knauf Plasterboard is expected to announce that it will begin the construction phase of a new plant at the Bundaberg Port in south-east Queensland. Knauf Plasterboard currently manufactures and distributes plasterboard and accessories out of its Melbourne and Sydney plants.

In 2014, the company bought land from Gladstone Ports Corporation at the Bundaberg Port and is expected to start building a new plant in March 2015. Company spokesman Brian Tisher said that the new plant would create 200 jobs in the construction phase and 55 new positions when the project was complete in 2016. Tisher said that most of the products made would be sold in Queensland, but some would be exported. He added that building the facility in Bundaberg was an obvious choice, as a 26km gas pipeline was recently installed. The plant should be operational by September 2016.

UK: Saint-Gobain's British Gypsum is making it easier for specifiers and architects to identify environmental performance with the launch of seven new Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) that cover nine products.

As part of its aim to give environmental transparency and make it easier for specifiers to gather evidence for building certification schemes, such as BREEAM, LEED and SKA, British Gypsum has introduced additional EPD to its Thistle plaster range. These include declarations for Thistle BoardFinish, MultiFinish, BondingCoat, Browning, Universal OneCoat, DuraFinish, SprayFinish, ToughCoat and HardWall.

The EPDs were externally verified for the Thistle plaster products following a robust Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which calculated the environmental impact of each product throughout its lifecycle. The LCA considers a range of factors, including the effect of raw materials, manufacturing process, installation, performance in use and recycling capabilities.

"As our EPDs are based on clearly-defined EU-wide rules and regulations, our customers can be confident in the knowledge that they are receiving reliable indicators, allowing them to make an informed decision when planning or delivering a project," said Heidi Barnard, sustainability leader at British Gypsum. "We're currently the only UK plaster manufacturer to offer EPDs, but we recognise the importance of giving our customers greater transparency, especially in our industry, where sustainable practices are becoming more rigorous on an almost daily basis."

Hungary: Saint-Gobain's revenue in Hungary rose by 6.2% to Euro35.2m in 2014 from Euro33.1m in 2013. In 2015, it expects revenue growth to be about the same. The business employs 500 people and exports more than 25% of its production. Saint-Gobain's biggest investment in Hungary is a Euro32.2m wallboard plant.

Vietnam: DAP Joint Stock Company has found a solution to deal with gypsum created during production processes. The public has criticised the company for many years because of the 'acid leaking from its gypsum dumping ground.' However, the problem will be solved as DAP has found a way to recycle gypsum, turning it into artificial plaster to be used as a cement additive.

Since 2009 DAP has produced some 2Mt of gypsum, which is being kept at its temporary dumping ground. The ground is surrounded by clay and stone embankments with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) stratum to ensure that the water does not leak. There is a reservoir to collect acid from the waste and pump it back to the plant for use. When the pH content falls below the allowed level, the gypsum will be relocated to a major gypsum gathering ground, covering an area of 0.4km², where it will be recycled into cement additives. A monitoring report from 30 September 2014 showed that the waste water was within the safety limits in accordance with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE) QCVN 09:2008/BTNMT standard on underground water quality.

Dinh Vu Gypsum JSC was established in 2010 following initial success in gypsum recycling tests. The company has finished the construction of a gypsum recycling plant and has installed 25% of the processing lines, with a capacity of 150,000t/yr per line. The plant, now in its trial run, has provided 10,000t of artificial plaster to the But Son Cement Plant in Ha Nam Province.

DAP has also joined forces with the Vietnam Cement Corporation (Vicem) to develop a project on processing gypsum. The two sides have signed a cooperation agreement, under which Vicem would be responsible for the consumption of the resulting cement additive.

Switzerland: Sika has claimed that its controlling family no longer has the right to call an extraordinary general meeting (EGM), marking the latest twist in a Euro2.76bn takeover battle for the company by France's Saint-Gobain. The sale has been opposed by Sika's board and executives, forcing the family to call an EGM where it aims to remove executives who object to it.

Sika insists that the Burkard family, who are descendants of the company's founder, are no longer exempt from a rule that restricts shareholders' to hold no more than 5% of all registered shares. An exception was originally made because of the family's close association with the company and its assertion that it would protect it against takeovers. The company said that the voting rights of the family should be restricted to 5%.

Saint-Gobain announced plans in December 2014 to acquire the holding company Schenker-Winkler Holding AG (SWH), which is the vehicle controlled by the Burkard family. It holds 16.1% of Sika's capital and 52.4% of its voting rights. Saint-Gobain is targeting the Sika stake in an attempt to kick-start its own earnings growth.

"Now that the Burkard family / SWH have formed a group with Saint-Gobain, this historical privilege must be considered lost, together with the right to convene extraordinary general meetings," said Sika. Sika said shareholders representing more than 35% of its total capital have given their assurance that they support the board of directors in its efforts to fend off the takeover.