Belarus: Belarusian gypsum wallboard demand will decrease by 12.5 - 17% in 2015, according to OJSC Belgips and FLLC Knauf Marketing, key players in the country. According to the companies' executives, the fall is a consequence of reducing funding of the construction industry and a decline in commercial real estate.

"In 2014, gypsum wallboard consumption in Belarus amounted to about 12Mm². In 2015, we estimate that the consumption will decrease to 10 - 10.5Mm²," said the director of Belgips, Stanislav Babitsky. The director of FLLC Knauf Marketing Alexander Babkin confirmed the 2014 market size at 12Mm² and said that he expects demand in 2015 to fall to 10Mm².

The head of corporate communications of Knauf for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Leonid Moose said that the main consumer of wallboard in Belarus was the business-to-business (B2B) sector, namely, the commercial real estate market. Out of the total wallboard consumption, the B2B sector had 70%, while the business-to-consumer (B2C) sector had 30%.

"The commercial real estate market is falling, while the population is beginning to save money and invest it in repairs. For this reason, we are observing the fall of consumption of gypsum wallboard and, at the same time, the growth of consumption, in particular, of dry building mixes, whose main consumer is the B2C sector," said Moose. "Meanwhile in Europe, wallboard is being increasingly used for partitions in individual building more than in Belarus."

Meanwhile, the demand for gypsum wallboard from the population has intensified, according to Babitsky. "The consumption of wallboard is increasing due to the growth in framed-monolithic housing in Belarus. During the last two years, the consumption growth was 20%. It smoothes the fall in demand from the commercial sector," said Babitsky. He added that another negative factor on the Belarusian market is the increased competition on the part of Russian players because of the Russian Ruble devaluation and the Russian wallboard market narrowing. Russia's wallboard production is around 600Mm²/yr, while consumption is 250Mm². As such, exports to Belarus have increased.

Belgips plans to develop new products for sale on the domestic and export markets. According to Gubanova, the company is considering entry into Lithuania and Latvia.

India: Saint Gobain Gyproc will set up a new US$60m manufacturing plant in India. "We have identified western India as suitable location for the new plant," said V Subramanian, Managing Director of Gypsum Business for Saint Gobain India. A final decision on the location will be taken by the end of 2015.

Gyproc India already has three manufacturing plants in the country in Jind (near Delhi), Wada (near Mumbai) and Bengaluru. The combined production capacity of these plants is about 46Mm2/yr. "Our capacity utilisation ratio is very high. The proposed new plant will add another 30Mm²/yr of capacity,'' added Subramanian.

Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan exported 36,920t of gypsum in the first half of 2015, some 40.9% less than in the same period of 2014 as reported by the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. This was confirmed by the National Statistics Office of Georgia, which receives 100% of the Azerbaijani exports of gypsum.

According to the official figures of Azerbaijan, the declared revenue from gypsum sales abroad totalled US$566,580. However, Georgia has recorded US$5.1m of gypsum imports from Azerbaijan. Georgia has also reported that US$1.38m of gypsum was imported from Azerbaijan in July 2015. Azerbaijani customs issued the goods at the price of US$15.3/t, while in Georgia it was priced at US$138/t. In the first half of 2014, Azerbaijani gypsum was quoted in Georgia at the price of US$170/t.

In the first half of 2015, Azerbaijani gypsum production increased by 1.3% year-on-year to 92,200t, according to the State Statistics Committee. Azerbaijan also imports gypsum from Iran (860t) and Turkey (6.6t). One tonne of imported gypsum is registered for customs duties and taxes at the price of US$52.9/t, three times more expensive than in the first quarter of 2014.

Brazil: Saint-Gobain will revise its year-on-year turnover growth projection of 7% in Brazil for 2015 as it is expecting volume sales to be lower than 2014, according to Thierry Fournier, the firm's president for Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Turnover is expected to still grow but at a slower rate than 7%, according to Valor Economico.

The building materials producer had to lift prices in the first half of 2015 to compensate for rising energy and US dollar-linked raw material costs. Despite this the group still continues to gain market presence in some segments like drywall.

Saint-Gobain holds a diversified presence in Brazil with divisions manufacturing fibre cement, mortars, wallboard, insulation and glass.