Gypsum industry news

Australia: Mining corporation Rio Tinto has blocked a bid by Australian billionaire Len Buckeridge to win control of its gypsum deposits near Carnarvon, Western Australia by announcing it is restarting its ancillary operations at its mine.

Buckeridge, who is worth an estimated US$2.5bn and runs an integrated industrial empire that is one of the biggest homebuilders in Australia, wrote to the State Government in March 2012, demanding that Rio Tinto either restart its operations in Lake MacLeod near Carnarvon or hand over the gypsum rights to him under state agreements, which demand that companies 'use or lose' their deposits. Buckeridge's company supplies about 7% of the subdued Eastern States plasterboard market and more than half of Western Australia's needs, with CSR the other big producer.

Managing director of Rio's Dampier Salt subsidiary, Denise Goldsworthy, said that it had shuttered its Lake MacLeod gypsum operation because it was not financially viable, but booming demand in Asia, and Buckeridge's approach, had caused a rethink.

"Based on the company's projections of medium-term trends for gypsum, primarily in South-East Asia and Australia, Dampier Salt has decided to commence working through the State Government approvals process to resume its own gypsum mining operation targeted at these markets," Goldsworthy said. Dampier Salt gave no deadline for when gypsum would be mined again at the site.

China: German construction group Knauf is currently expanding its business in China as the local housing market booms. Knauf produces 65mm2/yr of plasterboard at its three existing plants in China. With a new facility in Greater Shanghai the production capacity will increase by more than 50%.

However, Knauf is facing heavy competition from two local state firms which have considerably larger production capacities. The German company intends to fight this with a long-term strategy envisaging investments in its own plants and training of drywall finishers and distributors.

Knauf, which entered the Chinese market in 1997.

Europe: In addition to the new President of Eurogypsum, Maurizio Casalini, Eurogypsum has now announced the other newly elected members of its board as: Bernard Lekien (President Siniat European operations and Latin America) as vice president; Claude Alain Tardy (CEO of Saint Gobain Gypsum) as treasurer; Enrique Ramirez (Managing Director of Yesos Ibéricos); Jack Pinkosz (Managing Director of Norgips Poland), Manfred Grundke (CEO of Knauf),Jean-Marie Vaissaire (Regional Director of Saint Gobain Gypsum), Michael Chaldecott (Managing Director of British Gypsum) and Yves Dupont (Managing Director Benelux Siniat NL).

US: Eagle Materials Inc. has reported its financial results for the 2012 fiscal year and the fiscal fourth quarter that ended on 31 March 2012. Its results showed that the group's revenue was up by 7% for the fiscal year, to US$495m, and cash flow from operations was US$60.2m, up by 37%. In the quarter ending 31 March 2012, the company netted revenues of US$116.8m, a 22% year-on-year increase.

Eagle said that its low cost operations continued to execute well during the 2012 fiscal year and that it was beginning to see improving construction activity across most of its markets. Eagle's earnings began to improve during the second half of fiscal 2012 and accelerated during the fourth quarter.

The group's Gypsum Wallboard and Paperboard division saw an operational income of US$23.3m, an massive increase of 74% compared to the 2011 fiscal year. Revenues from Gypsum Wallboard and Paperboard were US$295.9m for the 2012 fiscal year, 9% higher than that seen in 2011.

The Gypsum Wallboard and Paperboard division reported fourth quarter operating earnings of US$15.1m compared to an operating loss of US$0.4m in the same quarter of the 2011 fiscal year. The increase in operating earnings was primarily due to higher net wallboard sales prices and increased paperboard sales volumes offset by lower wallboard sales volumes.

Gypsum Wallboard and Paperboard revenues for the fourth quarter totalled US$79.9m, a 23% increase from the same quarter in 2011. The average gypsum wallboard net sales price for this quarter was US$118.86/MSF, 39% greater than the same quarter in 2011. Gypsum wallboard sales volumes of 397MMSF were down by approximately 7% from the fourth quarter of the 2011 fiscal year.

Europe: Maurizio Casalini, managing director of Knauf Italy, has been appointed as the new president of Eurogypsum. His election was announced at the 29th Eurogypsum Congress, held by Eurogypsum (the European Gypsum Association), which took place at the Radisson Blu Hotel in historic Kraków, Poland on 10 – 11 May 2012.

The event, held under the title, 'Gypsum is at the core of a sustainable and resource-efficient built environment,' was attended by around 85 delegates from Europe, with some delegates also from the US. Co-hosted by Eurogypsum and Polski Gips (the Polish Gypsum Association), it was the first time that the conference had taken place in central Europe.

The Congress heard a variety of presentations from the European Commissioner Maria Spiliopoulou Kaparia, experts in gypsum extraction, architects, academics in the gypsum and insulation fields, companies concerned with recycling gypsum and other businesses.