Gypsum industry news

India: Saint-Gobain has commenced construction of its upcoming Oragadam gypsum wallboard plant near Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The plant will also produce plaster, as well as mineral wool insulation, acoustic insulation panels and float glass. The Times of India newspaper has reported that the plant is France-based Saint-Gobain’s largest investment in the Asia-Pacific Region to date.

Saint-Gobain Asia Pacific Regional Senior Vice-President and CEO Sreedhar Natarajan noted the upcoming plant’s reliance on automation technology to ‘Enhance our ability to deliver high-performance and differentiated solutions to our customers.’

Saudi Arabia: National Gypsum Company’s sales were US$8.77m in the first half of 2025, up by 0.1% year-on-year. Its profit grew by 1%, to US$456,000. The producer noted that increased market demand offset a rise in its operating costs.

Uzbekistan: China-based Sinoma Energy Conservation has participated in discussions with the Uzbek government over potential gypsum exploration projects in Jizzakh Region. Trend News has reported that other topics under discussion between the parties included wind turbine production and the establishment of an energy hub. They now plan to move ahead with ‘preparatory activities’ for the proposed projects.

US: Eagle Materials reported revenues of US$635m in the first quarter of the 2026 Fiscal Year (FY2026), up by 4% year-on-year. The group’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), however, fell by 4%, to US$215m. Its net earnings fell by 8%, to US$123m.

In its gypsum business, the company noted ‘steady’ single-family residential construction demand amid a ‘less clear’ interest rate environment. Revenues rose by 1%, to US$251m, and net earnings remained level year-on-year, at US$102m. Gypsum wallboard sales volumes rose by 4%, to 72.8Mm², while prices dropped by 3%, to US$2.50/m². During the quarter, Eagle Materials commenced the purchase of equipment for its upcoming Duke, Oklahoma, gypsum wallboard plant upgrade and expansion.

Michael Haack, president and CEO, said "Eagle had a solid start to FY2026. Against the current backdrop of ongoing macroeconomic and policy uncertainty as well as adverse weather conditions across many of our markets, our portfolio of businesses continued to perform well, and our end markets remained resilient.”

US: The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has published its first-quarter 2025 gypsum market data, showing a 9% year-on-year decline in domestic gypsum wallboard deliveries, to 574Mm². The data did not include figures for gypsum wallboard production. Gypsum wallboard exports rose by 30% to 24.8Mm², 23.8Mm² (96%) of which went to Canada. Imports totalled 21.4Mm², up by 6%, 20.5Mm² (96%) of which came from Mexico.

The US produced 4.96Mt of natural gypsum during the quarter, down by 1% year-on-year from the first quarter of 2024. Imports remained level at 1.7Mt. Spain supplied 680,000t (40%), Canada 527,000t (31%) and Mexico 425,000t (25%).