Vietnam: Knauf Vietnam has commenced construction of its first gypsum wallboard plant in the northern port city of Hai Phong on 16 July 2014. Located in Dinh Vu Industrial Zone, the plant has been one of the largest foreign direct investment projects in the city. Covering an area of 63,000m², the plant has a total investment of US$40m. When the plant is operational it will have a wallboard production capacity 12Mm²/yr.

"We have just launched two distributors in Vietnam, one in the south and one in the north and now we are starting the construction of our plant," said David Thomas, Knauf's general director. "We believe that, once completed by mid-2015, the plant will help us to gain a considerable market share in Vietnam in general and in the north in particular."

Thomas said that Knauf plans to expand its relationship with key partners such as distributors, architects, developers and government authorities, with an aim to widely introduce its products to the Vietnamese market.

"Dinh Vu Industrial Zone is a strategic location in terms of transportation and manufacturing that would provide the market with high quality products at competitive prices and improve the standards of the whole industry," said Thomas.

Ethiopia: The Geological Survey of Ethiopia (GSE) has identified 20 new mineral deposits. Eighteen of the deposits contained gypsum, limestone, marble and potash. Nineteen of the deposits were found in Oromia Region. The 20th, a coal deposit, was found in Wolkite Town, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region.

Saudi Arabia: The Saudi industrial company Al-Ahsa Development's management board has halted the construction of a gypsum plant in the Al-Ahsa Governorate, Eastern Province. The decision was made after a feasibility study of the deposits showed that the economic efficiency would be insufficient. The company has spent US$879,952 on the feasibility study and government fees for the project.

In May 2008 Al-Ahsa got a licence from the Saudi Ministry of Petrol to build a gypsum plant with a capacity of 500,000t/yr. The company planned to invest US$40.3m in the project and expected US$23.5m/yr revenue.

Russia: Gypsum producer Volma has drawn a one-year loan of Euro4.30m from VTB bank. The company will finance its business operations with the funds. Volma has already secured Euro18.2m in loans at VTB.