Gypsum industry news

US: Gypsoil is stopping production at its pelletised gypsum fertiliser plant in Winona, Minnesota. The plant has been shut down due to poor market demand, according to the Winona Daily News. The US$5m plant opened in early 2016. It used synthetic gypsum from coal smoke stack scrubbers in Ohio.

India: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has started investigating officials at Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT) for corruption related to the sale of gypsum. The CBI is exploring whether a cartel was formed between FACT and Nagarjuna Chemicals to sell fertiliser-derived gypsum to NSS Trade India Private Limited at a significantly lower rate than the market value, according to the Times of India. In addition a clause in an agreement between the companies suggest that they may have intended to keep the price of gypsum artificially high to the end clients.

US: Net sales from USG's gypsum business have risen by 4.5% year-on-year to US$1.9bn in the first nine months of 2016 from US$1.82bn in the same period in 2015. Its operating profit rose by 18% to US$310m from US$262m. the company said that surfaces and substrates products drove US$5m of this improved profit. US wallboard volumes increased by 1% while domestic wallboard price was down roughly 1% from the third quarter of 2015. Inflation in wallboard input costs was offset by reduced selling, general and administrative expenses spending in the US gypsum business.

"I'm pleased to report that we expanded margins in both of our US businesses as well as in our USG Boral joint venture," said James S Metcalf, president and CEO of USG. He added that the company intends to use the US$670m from its sale of L&W Supply to reduce debt.

Overall, the company reported that its net sales rose by 4% to US$2.28bn from US$2.2bn and its net income rose by 13% to US$203m from US$179m. Sales from its USG Boral business rose by 4.9% to US$778m from US$742m. Improved results from USB Boral in the third quarter of 2016 were attributed to improved gypsum wallboard price and volume, manufacturing efficiencies and increased sales of 'adjacent' products.

France: Saint-Gobain's sales from its Interior Solutions division, comprising gypsum wallboard and insulation products, has risen by 2.1% year-on-year to Euro4.94bn in the first nine months of 2016 from Euro4.83bn in the same period in 2015. On a like-for-like basis the group said that its sales grew by 4.3%. It said that sales grew in all regions in the third quarter of 2016 and that despite a 'deflationary' environment prices remained under pressure in developed economies.

"The third quarter confirmed the upturn in volumes in Western Europe. France benefited from the steady improvement in new-builds; the UK showed no sign of weakness. Volumes continued to grow in US construction despite the lack of positive weather impacts for roofing in the quarter. Our businesses in Asia and emerging countries remained strong, delivering further robust growth. The price effect moved back into positive territory over the quarter, reflecting Saint-Gobain's strong positioning on its markets," said Pierre-André de Chalendar, chairman and chief executive officer of Saint-Gobain.

Overall, the group reported that its sales fell by 1.7% to Euro29.3bn from Euro29.8bn across all business lines although it said that on a like-for-like basis sales rose by 2.6%.

Switzerland: The board of directors of Sika has offered to buy out the stake of the Burkard-Schenker family in order to end a battle caused by the family's intention to sell its controlling stake to Saint-Gobain. Sika's chairman Paul Haelg announced plans to buy the family shares, in an interview with newspapers NZZ am Sonntag and Schweiz, saying that after a two-year dispute it has become obvious that no solution can be reached if all sides work against each other.

The announcement follows a ruling by the Cantonal Court of Zug on 28 October 2016 that blocked the sale of Burkard-Schenker's shares to Saint-Gobain. The family holds 16.4% of the capital and 52.6% of the voting rights of Sika. Saint-Gobain reacted to the ruling by saying that its board of directors continues to want to buy Sika and that agreement with the Burkard family is valid until June 2017 and can be extended until December 2018.