China: Beijing New Building Materials has announced that its holding subsidiary Taishan Gypsum will spend more than US$39.3m building two gypsum wallboard plants and one cement retarder project using industrial by-product gypsum.
Taishan Gypsum will build one of its wallboard plants in the Shanghang Jiaoyang industrial park in Longyan City, Fujian Province. The project is estimated to cost roughly US$18.6m, of which US$5.6m will be raised by the company itself and US$13m from a bank loan.
US: Eagle Materials Inc has reported a 29% rise in total revenue for the first quarter of the 2013 fiscal year which ended on 30 June 2012. The North American building materials producer noted revenue of US$154m for the quarter, up from US$120m in the same period in 2011.
Eagle's gypsum wallboard sector reported a 36% increase in revenue to US$70.2m from US$51.3 in 2011. Improved wallboard net sales prices were the primary driver of the quarterly earnings increase in the company's gypsum wallboard and paperboard division. Sales volumes increased by 11% to 42.5MM2 from 38.3MM2.
US: USG Corporation (USG) has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of its wholly-owned European business operations to affiliates of Gebr. Knauf Verwaltungsgesellschaft KG for approximately US$80m. The amount is subject to adjustment based on working capital and net debt levels at the closing of the deal.
The businesses being sold include the manufacture and distribution of Donn brand ceiling grid and Sheetrock brand finishing compounds throughout Europe, Russia and Turkey.
"While USG's European operations have been performing well, we prefer to focus our investment in higher growth markets," said James S Metcalf, Chairman, President and CEO. "We contacted more than 60 potentially interested parties, including both strategic buyers and private equity firms, and decided to sell the businesses following a thorough evaluation that produced strong interest. We're pleased with the value we are receiving for this group of assets."
Uzbekistan: Dry gypsum mixture producer Bukharagips JV OJSC has released its financial results for the 2011 calendar year, which show a net loss of US$1.0m in 2011 against a loss of US$0.3m in 2010.
The company decreased production of construction-grade gypsum by 39.6% from 14,027t in 2010 to 11,373t in 2011. The enterprise increased production of crushed stone gypsum by 8.2% to 208,180t. Production of dry construction mixtures rose by 156.3% from 5240t in 2010 to 13,428t in 2011.
The company's net revenue came to US$3.7m in 2011 against US$2.6m in 2010. Its expenses grew from US$1.8m in 2010 to US$2.92m in 2011.
