Gypsum industry news

US: Like other makers of building products, United States Gypsum Company (USG), the US's largest maker of wallboard thrived during the US housing boom. But the company fell into the red in the fourth quarter of 2007 and is yet to climb out. With the anticipated housing rebound remaining elusive, average home prices in the first quarter of 2011 dropped to back to 2002 levels. This weak housing demand has spurred fears the economy may yet return to recession, with further losses expected for USG in the coming months.

USG Chief Executive James Metcalf, joked in a recent interview at the company's headquarters that he was getting tired of being asked to speak at conferences about 'managing in turbulent times' and has declined to predict when his company will return to the black.

Metcalf said that the company was building more modern plants and couldn't have foreseen the precipitous drop in housing construction, currently running at around a quarter of the peak level. USG has cut its work force by about one-third, to about 9250, since the peak. It has shrunk wallboard production capacity by about 30%, closing eight wallboard plants and idling others. The company's prolonged slump shows the peril of relying heavily on any one part of the world, even a market as large as the US, which accounts for 77% of USG's sales.

That said, USG is trying to build up sales in China, parts of Latin America and a few other areas without going fully global. Metcalf said, "We're putting bets down now -- small bets." For now though, the company's top priority is surviving the US housing collapse.

US: CertainTeed is introducing a new wallboard solution, the 'Easi-Lite' wallboard. Easi-Lite boards are up to 30% lighter than normal wallboard and can be used in both interior ceilings and walls in residential and commercial applications.

Its lightweight characteristics make it more easy to transport, stock at worksites and install by hand, helping to reduce muscle strain and worker fatigue. The new product is also easier to score and snap for improved installation. It has been designed with sag resistance in mind and as such it is ideal for 12mm (0.5-inch) ceiling applications, allowing for one board type to be used for interior ceilings as well as walls.

Easi-Lite wallboard panels have a high-strength, sag-resistant gypsum core with a 100% recycled face and back paper and they enable installers to achieve the same high performance standards of a traditional wallboard. It is Greenguard® Children and Schools certified and designated as a low volatile organic compound (VOC) emitting product.

"Building professionals are constantly looking for innovative ways to streamline their processes to maximise profitability without sacrificing quality," said President of CertainTeed Gypsum John Donaldson. "The introduction of Easi-Lite complements CertainTeed's comprehensive product line and strengthens our position as a single source for products that meet a wide range of performance attributes and specifications."

Somaliland: GMT Minerals is looking to develop 'undoubtedly one of the largest' gypsum deposits in the world. Located in Berbera, Somaliland, the deposit is exposed for many miles, and extends for approximately five miles to the south of Berbera. It is between nine to 14 miles of a nearby port. The deposit is known to contain many millions of tons of good grade gypsum and anhydrite. It is thought that there are over 13Mt of greater than 90% pure gypsum and a further 9Mt of greater than 85% pure gypsum.

GMT Minerals is intending to establish a new front-end gypsum processing and handling facility near the deposit. The new front-end gypsum processing facility at Berbera will process about 2Mt/yr of gypsum and produce a homogenised, 50mm product that is suitable for pulverisation and calcination prior to use in board production.

Uzbekistan: Germany's Knauf International GmbH (Knauf) has completed the construction of a 20MM²/yr wallboard production plant in Uzbekistan. The project, worth US$48m, was funded through a direct investment from Knauf. The contractor for the construction project was German Samo Engineering.

KnaufGipsBuhara, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Knauf International GmbH, will manage the plant. Following the full commissioning of the new production facilities, the wallboard production capacity in Uzbekistan will be doubled to 40MM²/yr, with demand closer to 60MM²/yr.

France: Sales across the whole of the Saint-Gobain group in the first quarter of 2011 came to Euro9.799bn, an increase of 12.2% year-on-year. Organic growth of 8.8% was seen in France across all operations and in western Europe (excluding France) the figure was 10.2%. The figures for North America and emerging markets (Asia, eastern Europe and Latin America) were 4.2% and 15.6% respectively.

In the Construction Products division, which includes gypusm wallboard and insulation, sales were up by 6.4% to Euro2.658bn. Saint-Gobain attributed the increases to improved trading conditions across the whole of Europe and continuing strong momentum in Asian markets. The results were tempered by poor trading conditions in the US.

The group's sub-section Interior Solutions grew by 8.4% year-on-year, primarily due to an upturn in western Europe and more favourable winter weather conditions than 2010 that allowed more construction work to take place.

Saint-Gobain's targets for the remainder of 2011 are to have double-digit operating growth across all operations and achieve Euro1.3bn free cash flow after spending Euro500m on capital expenditure.