There has been a raft of new gypsum projects over the past 12 months, many of which are in markets where wallboard is an emerging concept. Here, we round up new gypsum sector projects from the past 12 months, plus related expansions and other news...
New wallboard plants
Groundbreaking in Andhra Pradesh
India: USG Boral held a ground breaking event for a new 30Mm2/yr gypsum wallboard plant that it is building at Sri City, Andhra Pradesh in early July 2018. The project has an investment of US$39m. The new plant will be operated by local subsidiary USG Boral Building Products India. The site is expected to become operational by the end of 2019. It will create over 100 new jobs. It joins USG Boral’s 9Mm2/yr wallboard plant at Khushkhera, New Delhi.
“This facility offers us the ability to significantly increase our operations in India and provide our customers in the region with the best plasterboard products,” said Frederic de Rougemont, the chief executive officer (CEO) of USG Boral.
New Winstone plant in New Zealand
New Zealand: In June 2018, Fletcher Building’s subsidiary Winstone Wallboards announced plans to build a US$170m gypsum wallboard plant in Drury, Auckland. The new unit is expected to create around 200 new jobs. The company expects the new plant to be operational in 2021 or 2022.
Belgips plant to start in October 2018
Belarus: Construction of Belgips’ new 30Mm2/yr gypsum wallboard plant in Gatovo, Minsk District is expected to be completed in October 2018. The plant will then take another six months for start-up and commissioning before it starts commercial operation in mid-2019, The unit is a joint venture between Russia’s Volma Corporation and Germany’s Knauf, which has invested around Euro70m in the project after it acquired a 50% stake in the project from Volma in early 2017.
The Belgips plant has endured a difficult birth, with construction first starting in late 2015. Once completed the unit plans to produce 30Mm2/yr of gypsum wallboard, 0.5m2/yr of gypsum partition blocks and 0.1Mt/yr of dry building mixtures. Products made at the plant will be used domestically and for export.
Construction underway in Tataouine
Tunisia: Construction work started on Knauf’s new gypsum plant at Ezzahra in Tataouine in May 2018. The Euro10m plant will produce 300t/day of gypsum plaster when it starts production in early 2020. Prime minister Youssef Chahed has met with Alexander Knauf, the chairman of Germany’s Knauf. Knauf is investing Euro80m in the peoject, which will create over 300 jobs in gypsum projects based in the governates of Tataouine and Sidi Bouzid.
Panel Rey Ciudad Jerez plant inaugurated
Mexico: Panel Rey inaugurated its gypsum wallboard plant in Ciudad Juárez in April 2018. The company spent over US$55m on the plant that it says is the largest in Latin America. It is its fifth wallboard plant in the country following plants at El Carmen NL, San Luis Potosi, Mexico City and Mexicali. Construction at the site started in 2010 and first production started in early April 2018. Nicolás Alverde Villareal, the general director of Panel Rey, and Javier Corral Jurado, the governor of the state of Chihuahua, attended the inauguration. The new plant is expected to create 170 direct jobs.
CNBM starts plant build in Tanzania
Tanzania: China National Building Material (CNBM) started work on the construction of a gypsum wallboard plant in Tanzania in March 2018. The project is part of its participation in the Chinese government’s ‘One belt, one road’ industrial strategy.
De Chalendar inaugurates Gujarat plant
India: Pierre-Andre de Chalendar, chairman and chief executive officer of Saint-Gobain, inaugurated the company’s 30Mm2/yr Jhagadia gypsum wallboard plant in Gujarat in February 2018. The plant is the largest wallboard plant in India. Saint-Gobain’s local subsidiary, Gyproc, also operates three other plants in Haryana, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Update from Iranian plant build
Iran: Azerbaijan-based Matanat-A is building a US$10m gypsum plant in Semnan Province, northern Iran. The head of mining and industrial organisation of Semnan Province, Behrouz Asfadi, said that production at the plant was expected to start in the ‘near future.’ Jafar Sarghini, the deputy minister of industries, mining and trade, added that Matanat-A is already using a gypsum mine in northern Iran and the plant is located nearby.
Bundaberg celebrates 1 year of operation
Australia: After a construction period of just 11 months, the US$55m Knauf gypsum wallboard factory at Bundaberg, Queensland has produced its first wallboard in August 2017. The plant received its first delivery of gypsum in late July 2017.
Expansions and other projects
Vietnam plant to triple capacity
Vietnam: USG Boral announced a US$20m investment towards upgrading its gypsum wallboard plant at the Hiep Phuoc Industrial Zone in Ho Chi Minh City in December 2018. The project will increase the plant’s production capacity by 17Mm2/yr to 47Mm2/yr when it restarts in September 2019.
“We have witnessed strong growth from this region so our decision to invest in the plant is a strategic one,” said Frederic de Rougemont, CEO of USG Boral. “We remain committed to building USG Boral’s presence in Southeast Asia. This expansion will see USG Boral utilising our latest Sheetrock technology to provide superior building solutions for the Vietnamese market.”
US plants to reopen
US: National Gypsum is set to reopen its Wilmington, North Carollina wallboard plant, which was idled in 2009. The company plans to spend US$25m on upgrading the site. The company also plans to build a rail spur into the plant to support despatch by rail. The site will use raw gypsum from the company’s quarry in Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada.
Meanwhile, USG plans to upgrade its Jacksonville gypsum wallboard plant in Florida. As part of the investment, a new production line will be added to manufacture USG’s Securock ExoAir 430 panels. Investments will be made at the site to improve overall plant efficiency, including upgrades to modernise the plant’s mill equipment.
Gypwall production to double
India: FACT - RCF Building Products (FRBL) plans to double production of its Gypwall product. The decision follows the Kerala Mission Livelihood Inclusion and Financial Empowerment housing scheme’s approval of Gypwall. The state government aims to build 430,000 houses over the next five years.
FRBL, a joint venture between FACT and Rashtriya Chemicals, produces Gypwall, a load-bearing prefabricated walling system. It consists of gypsum plaster reinforced with glass fibre. The company produces 86,000m2/yr of panels at its plant in Ambalmugal in Kochi.
New product for soda plant
Russia: Novotroitsk Soda Plant intends to start production of gypsum at its unit in the Orenburg region of the Volga district. The project has an investment of Euro32m. When adaptations are complete in 2021, the plant will produce 143,000t/yr of gypsum. The new capability at the plant will also create 165 jobs.
Telestack order facilitates gypsum exports
Oman: Northern Ireland’s Telestack has won a Euro5.7m deal to supply a mobile shiploading system to the Port of Salalah. The system will be used to load gypsum, limestone, and cement clinker and will be operational later in 2018. The project is part of an on-going Euro17bn Omani government infrastructure investment to support mining, quarrying and the cement industry. It is Telestack’s largest single order to date.
New open-cast mine in Newfoundland
Canada: Red Moon Resources has submitted a development plan for an open cast gypsum mine at the Ace deposit in western Newfoundland to the government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The project has already received environmental clearance. It is currently attempting to find customers for gypsum and anhydrite from the mine. Previously the site was used by the Flat Bay mine, which extracted at least 15Mt of gypsum prior to 1990.
Grupo Etex to invest in Colombia
Colombia: Grupo Etex is projected to invest US$77m in its production activities. 50% of the funds will be used to increase productivity, with 25% allocated to innovation and a further 25% invested in safety and maintenance. According to the manager of Grupo Etex, Mauricio Lopez, the company will focus on rural housing in Colombia, the demand for which continues to grow thanks to a recent peace agreement and development of the agricultural industry.
Furthermore, Lopez anticipates a growth in exports to Venezuela and Ecuador, as well as the Caribbean and Central American regions. This has been boosted so far in 2018 due to rebuilding efforts after devastating hurricanes in the region in late 2017.
