Gypsum industry news

US: According to Charlotte Business Journal, Duke Energy has proposed excavating 12 more of its 36 coal ash ponds in North and South Carolina and burying the waste in a fully-lined landfills or structural fill projects.

To date, Duke has proposed closure plans for 24 of the 36 ash ponds. In every case, it has proposed excavation and reburial. However, Garry Miller, head of closure engineering for Duke, said that might not be the case for the remaining 12 ponds. He said that the engineering work that remains to be done at those plants could yet show that a 'cap in place' process, which critics have said would be insufficient to protect against further contamination of groundwater, can effectively close them.

Miller said that none of the waste ash from Duke's 36 ash ponds would undergo beneficial reuse, the process of using the ash for commercial products such as a replacement for Portland cement in concrete and gypsum board. However, he added that Duke does send a portion of the dry ash it is currently producing at its largest plants for reuse. However, the time constraints imposed by North Carolina's Coal Ash Management Act of 2014 make it impossible for the existing ash ponds. "As we close these basins, the quantity in them is such that the market cannot handle it in a timely manner," said Miller.

Duke's current cost estimate for closing the ponds is US$3.4bn, although this is subject to revision.

Belgium: Etex has announced the addition of Caroline Thijssen, Guillaume Voortman and its CEO Paul Van Oyen to its Board of Directors. In addition, Marc Nolet de Brauwere, Amaury Pelgrims de Bigard and Philium bvba, represented by Philippe Coens, have left the board.

Caroline Thijssen is Head of Talent Banking and Management Dynamics at BNP Paribas Fortis. She gained a Master's degree in Economics and Management at the UCL, Université catholique de Louvain. She started her career in the financial world at BNP Paribas Fortis, with a two-year international management traineeship. Then, she fulfilled the roles of Deputy Branch Manager, Branch Manager and Group Branch Manager, before joining the HR department. She became a member of Etex's Board of Directors on 27 May 2015.

Guillaume Voortman is Head of Finance and Administration at Tropicore — a trading company for tropical commodities, such as rubber. He holds a Master's degree in Applied Economics and Management, which he obtained at the Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis in Brussels and the UCL. He also gained an Advanced Master's degree in Financial Economics at the KU Leuven University. He began his career as equity trader at ING Bank Belgium. Afterwards, he moved to ING Bank Netherlands as Associate Relationship Manager, before joining Tropicore. He entered Etex's Board of Directors on 27 May 2015.

Paul Van Oyen has been attending the Board meetings since he was appointed CEO of Etex on 1 January 2015. On 27 May, he became a member of the Board in the role of Managing Director.

UK: According to Construction Enquirer, Kent's Drywall Technologies, which traded as Drytech, has entered administration, resulting in 20 job losses. A further 20 staff, other than those made redundant, have been offered work at an associated company, understood to be Drytech Facades. Drytech was founded in 2003 by former Knauf employees Stephen Deane and Tommy McDermott.

"Increased industry competition and its consequential impact on profitability led the directors of the company to decide to exit the sector in 2014 by significantly reducing the level of contracts being tendered for and completing those already in progress," said joint administrator Colin Hardman of Smith & Williamson. "Unfortunately, due to the unprofitable nature of some of those contracts, the company became insolvent and so management took the decision to place the company into administration. We are now looking for a buyer for the company's assets and in the meantime are progressing with realisation the company's principal assets; its debtor book and work in progress so as to maximise realisations for the benefit of creditors."

Australia: The Gladstone Port Corporation has approved construction of a US$54m Knauf Plasterboard manufacturing plant at Bundaberg Port, Queensland to begin by the end of 2015. The project is anticipated to create up to 100 local jobs over the next 18 months, according to local media. The plant is due to be completed in January 2017.

Germany: Schenck has launched the AccuRate DMO Weighfeeder, which is suitable for weighing and feeding up to 500t/hr. According to Schenck, it is the perfect solution for a variety of heavy-duty industrial applications.

The drive system, with reducer and motor, are all directly mounted on the head pulley shaft reducing the need for alignments and maintenance. At the heart of the DMO is a direct multi-cell weighing system that does not use levers or counterbalance weights. This reduces any chance of error during the weighing process. The DMO comes in standard belt widths of 70 – 137cm with feed rate accuracies of ±0.5% over a 10:1 range. These rates are achievable in a range of material particle sizes up to 10cm lumps.