Gypsum industry news

Oman: Oman exported 8.74Mt of gypsum in 2021. Data from Oman-based Zawawi Minerals shows that the country had a 44% share of the gypsum export market to Asian, the Middle East and south-east Africa. Its main destination was India, followed by Bangladesh. Thailand followed with exports of 4.91Mt for both gypsum and anhydrite (32%) and then Iran with 4.2Mt (21%). Other exporting nations included Australia, Mexico and Bhutan. Total recorded exports to the region were 19.8Mt.

UK: Belgium-based Etex has announced a new UK trading agreement with Kier, a provider of construction and infrastructure services.The arrangement will see Etex and Kier collaborate on a variety of new projects using Etex’s products, including its Siniat brand wallboard.

Gerard Cox, Head of Procurement for Kier Construction, added “We are excited to include Etex Building Performance to our carefully selected list of preferred supply chain partners and look forward to engaging with them on our projects where we believe their range of products, warrantied systems and customer focussed approach, have the potential to add real value to our business.”

Etex previously said it plans to start operations at its new wallboard plant at the Port of Bristol in 2022. It has invested around Euro165m in the project that is set to double its production capacity in the UK.

Bosnia & Herzegovina: China-based BNBM plans to build a 40Mm²/yr gypsum wallboard plant in a joint venture with Rudnik i Termoelektrana Ugljevik (RiTE Ugljevik). The new company will be called BNBM Eastern Europe and based at Ugljevik, where RiTE Ugljevik operates the coal-fired Ugljevik Power Plant. The project has an investment of Euro50m with BNBM contributing Euro45m towards the total. Construction is expected to take 18 months, although a start date is subject to the joint-venture meeting certain conditions to the satisfaction of its parent companies. RiTE Ugljevik is a subsidiary of the state-owned power company Elektroprivreda.

US: Eagle Materials’ wallboard sales volumes fell by 4% year-on-year to 64.6Mm² in the third quarter of its financial year to 31 December 2021 from 67.5Mm² in the same period in 2020. The company blamed this on ongoing homebuilder supply chain difficulties and reported that its “order pace improved during the quarter.” Despite this revenue and earnings from its Light Materials division grew in the quarter.

For the nine months to 31 December 2021 the company’s Light Materials division revenue grew by 25% year-on-year to US$584m from US$469m in the same period in 2020. Gypsum wallboard sales volumes rose by 2% to 204Mm² from 200Mm². Earnings from the division increased by 40% to US$197m from US$140m. Overall company revenue grew by 13% to US$1.45bn from US$1.28bn.

France: Workers at Placoplâtre’s gypsum quarry in Baillet-en-France near Paris went on strike in late January 2022 following a breakdown in negotiations with management. The General Confederation of Labour (CGT) union has cited disagreements over changes to shift patterns, safety concerns and poor equipment, according to the Le Parisien newspaper. Placoplâtre responded that discussions are ongoing. A worker died at the mine in 2019 when a gallery roof collapsed.