Gypsum industry news

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.

US: The Construction & Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA) has formed a Gypsum Recycling Committee. It intends to work with key stakeholders in gypsum recycling to improve the recovery rate. Terry Weaver, the president of USA Gypsum, will be the first chair of the committee.

The committee will be comprised of companies involved in each step of recovering gypsum wallboard, including the manufacturers, the Gypsum Association, contractors, processors and end users. Initial actions will include: creating a wallboard diversion policy; developing end product specifications; creating best management practices for contractors and processors; working with drywall companies to set post-recycled content for new wallboard; updating the CDRA’s current Gypsum Recycling Protocol to reflect these actions; promoting that recyclers must be third-party certified using a program developed to an ISO level; and defining specifications for other end products made from recycled wallboard.

US: The US Geological Survey (USGS) reports that 17Mt of gypsum was mined in the first three quarters of 2021, a rise of 9% year-on-year from 15.6Mt in the same period in 2020. Imports grew by 14% to 5Mt but synthetic gypsum supply declined by 10% to 9.75Mt. Total gypsum board product sales grew by 8% to 1.94Bnm2 from 1.80Bnm2.

Spain: Knauf has received a 30 year extension to its quarrying permit supporting its Escuzar wallboard plant in Granada. The company also plans to increase production capacity at the unit, according to Europa Press. The plant was established in 2008 and it has a capacity of 50Mm²/yr.