Gypsum industry news
Winstone Wallboards to build US$181m wallboard plant 22 June 2018
New Zealand: Fletcher Building’s subsidiary Winstone Wallboards plans to build a US$181m gypsum wallboard plant in Auckland. The new unit is expected to create around 200 new jobs, according to the New Zealand Herald newspaper. Negotiations at the Drury site have not yet been concluded yet. The company hopes that the new plant will be operational in 2021 or 2022. The new development is planned to meet local demands and upgrade the existing capacity at Winstone Wallboards’ Penrose plant in Auckland.
Canada: The Canada Border Services Agency has started an investigation into gypsum board products being imported from the US. The probe has been initiated by a complaint by CertainTeed Gypsum Canada about the products being imported into British Colombia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as well as the Yukon and Northwest Territories, according to the Canadian Press newspaper. It is the second complaint that CertainTeed Gypsum Canada has made in recent years, following a similar allegation in 2016.
In 2016 preliminary tariffs were imposed on US imports and then reduced after being blamed for raising the price of wallboard. The increases were linked to higher costs for domestic customers in Fort McMurray, Alberta following destruction caused by wildfires. The Canadian International Trade Tribunal later ruled that US imports had caused injury to local producers but that maintaining duties would not be in the country's trade interests.