Gypsum industry news

Romania: Siniat Romania, part of Belgium's Etex, will close its plant in Bucharest and quarry in Nucsoara in February 2016 in order to concentrate production at its recently-opened Turceni plant.

The decision was taken because Turceni has a better geographic proximity to the company's sales markets in south-east Europe, according to General Manager Marc-Andre Fritsche. The Turceni plant was opened in October 2015 in Gorj, south-west Romania, with an investment of Euro50m. It will incorporate the company's wallboard production activity and extend the portfolio with more complex products.

Siniat Romania has another plant in Aghiresu, Cluj. It posted a Euro25.8m turnover in 2014 and a loss of Euro1.15m.

Romania: Siniat Romania, part of Etex, has opened a gypsum plant in Turceni, Gorj, following a Euro50m investment from its own funds.

The gypsum wallboard plant encompasses 320,000m² of land and is the largest in Romania, according to the company. With a production capacity of 27Mm2 of wallboard, the unit serves a strategic purpose for Siniat Romania, covering 10 markets across south-east Europe.

The Turceni plant is the first in Romania that uses synthetic gypsum produced from the gas desulphurisation process from a power plant. The gypsum has high purity and consistency and is an excellent feedstock for wallboard. In addition, water used in the production process will come from rainwater collected from the roofs of the plant and drilled wells, thus limiting resource consumption, while waste water will also be internally recycled.

Siniat has also invested Euro1m in the construction of a new road that links the plant to the national road, limiting the impact of heavy vehicles on the local community. The plant provides 80 new employment opportunities for the local community, with the new employees being trained in Siniat plants in Romania, Italy and Germany.

"Siniat plays an active role in local communities. We particularly appreciate the labour force in Romania, with well-trained and motivated people. We constantly invest in technology and use high quality raw material. We develop in a stable economic environment with high potential. Our goal is to capitalise on this potential," said Marc-André Fritzsche, General Manager of Siniat Romania. Siniat Romania has two other plants in Bucharest and Aghiresu (Cluj).

Romania: Siniat Romania, part of Belgian industrial group Etex, will open a Euro50m wallboard plant in Turceni, southern Romania in October 2015.

The company will create 80 new jobs in the production division of the plant. Some 80% of the staff has already been recruited. The plant will produce plasterboard using synthetic gypsum from power producer CET Turceni. It will be the only plant in Romania to use synthetic gypsum from the flue gas desulphurisation process at a thermal power plant, according to Siniat.

Belgium: Etex has announced the addition of Caroline Thijssen, Guillaume Voortman and its CEO Paul Van Oyen to its Board of Directors. In addition, Marc Nolet de Brauwere, Amaury Pelgrims de Bigard and Philium bvba, represented by Philippe Coens, have left the board.

Caroline Thijssen is Head of Talent Banking and Management Dynamics at BNP Paribas Fortis. She gained a Master's degree in Economics and Management at the UCL, Université catholique de Louvain. She started her career in the financial world at BNP Paribas Fortis, with a two-year international management traineeship. Then, she fulfilled the roles of Deputy Branch Manager, Branch Manager and Group Branch Manager, before joining the HR department. She became a member of Etex's Board of Directors on 27 May 2015.

Guillaume Voortman is Head of Finance and Administration at Tropicore — a trading company for tropical commodities, such as rubber. He holds a Master's degree in Applied Economics and Management, which he obtained at the Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis in Brussels and the UCL. He also gained an Advanced Master's degree in Financial Economics at the KU Leuven University. He began his career as equity trader at ING Bank Belgium. Afterwards, he moved to ING Bank Netherlands as Associate Relationship Manager, before joining Tropicore. He entered Etex's Board of Directors on 27 May 2015.

Paul Van Oyen has been attending the Board meetings since he was appointed CEO of Etex on 1 January 2015. On 27 May, he became a member of the Board in the role of Managing Director.

South Africa: Belgium's Etex Group has announced the acquisition of Lafarge's South African gypsum business. An Etex press release stated that Lafarge Gypsum South Africa and its local company Marley Building Systems, two businesses of equal size, will team up to create a 'unique and competitive offer that capitalises on today's Southern African building trends.'

The deal is in line with Etex's aims of strengthening its position in Africa, with the Southern African region and Nigeria its main drivers of growth. In South Africa, the demand for housing has been on the rise, driven by a growing population and an emerging middle class. In addition, the market is becoming increasingly regulated. Consequently, alternative building methods like dry construction are gradually replacing traditional construction methods.

"Combining these two product offerings enables us to provide the full scope of Etex's portfolio," said Paul van Oyen, CEO of Etex. "That way, we can answer the changing local demand with a global approach for the whole southern African market, including South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique."

For factory personnel, Etex has said that everything will remain as it is. Meanwhile, the support teams at Marley will be strengthened by teams from Lafarge Gypsum. "Lafarge Gypsum (adds) the technical and innovation support an international group can offer," added van Oyen. A transition team will ensure the smooth merger of both companies once the deal has been finalised. The acquisition is subject to the customary closing conditions.

Romania: According to News website ZF English, Siniat Romania, part of Belgium's Etex Group, has completed the construction of its Euro50m, greenfield wallboard plant in the southern city of Turceni.

Peru: Etex's Eternit aims to double Peru's demand for wallboard construction systems, having invested some US$35m in its new, modern plant on the Huarochiri industrial estate in Lima, which was inaugurated recently.

The new plant will produce 12.2Mm²/yr of wallboard. National demand for wallboard in Peru is 10Mm²/yr, although this segment is growing at an estimated annual rate of 20%/yr. Eternit is already looking at a first expansion in 2020. The company will now focus on the residential sector, where there is huge potential for growth. Consumption of wallboard systems per capita ranges between 6m² and 8m² in developed countries, compared to 2.8m² in Chile, 0.6m² in Colombia and <0.3m² in Peru. Eternit aims to double this figure by 2018 or 2019. Currently, excess wallboard production from Peru is exported to Ecuador and northern Chile, where there is higher wallboard demand.

Colombia: Etex has appointed Agustin Cozzi as the top manager in Gyplac, a manufacturer of plasterboards based in Cartagena. The change follows the retirement of Felipe Montes after 23 years as head of Skinco Colombit. Mauricio Lopez, who was previously a manager at Gyplac, has become the top manager of Skinco Colombit, a firm with a factory for fibre cement products in Manizales. Miguel Fernando Rangel has been appointed as Etex's new top manager at the helm of Ceramica San Lorenzo, a manufacturer of floor and wall tiles in Sopo.

Belgium: Etex Group has reported a 1.9% year-on-year drop in sales revenue to Euro3bn in 2014. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 11.6% to Euro226m from Euro234m. It attributed the decline to a poor second half, which was hit by a slowdown in public and private investments, poor exchange rates in South America, slowing growth in emerging markets and recession-like conditions elsewhere.

In its outlook Etex anticipates that cyclic fluctuations will continue to appear in all of its markets throughout 2015. Emerging markets are expected to show minor growth, while the fundamental situation in Europe, and particularly in France, needs to improve further. "Overall results are expected to be stable", says Paul Van Oyen, CEO of Etex.

Belgium: Etex has announced that from 1 January 2015, a new leader will take the helm. Fons Peeters, the current CEO of Etex, will retire at the end of 2014 after 41 years with Etex, the last four of which he was CEO. Paul Van Oyen, currently the head of the Promat Division, will take over his role.

"On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to thank Fons Peeters for his immense dedication during his long career at Etex," said chairman of the board, Jean-Louis de Cartier de Marchienne. "His exceptional guidance proved to be an important added value for our company and ought to be an inspiration to all of us, since he helped to shape Etex as we know it today."

On 1 January 2015 Paul Van Oyen will take up the position. Before joining Etex, he worked for several years as a researcher and technologist. His career at Etex spans 24 years, during which period he gained both expertise and experience in different regions and different divisions of the company. Business development manager and head of the Eastern European business are some of his past roles. He has been developing Promat, Etex's high-performance insulation and passive fire protection division, since 2011. Paul Van Oyen has been appointed until the end of 2021 with the mission of pursuing further Etex's ambitious long-term strategy, which focuses on both internal and external growth.

"In order to trigger organic growth, Etex will maintain its capital expenditure programme with yearly investments of about Euro200m," said Jean-Louis de Cartier de Marchienne. "At the same time, the group will further reduce its debt, aiming at a debt ratio below two, which should open up future growth possibilities. In light of these ambitious plans, the board of directors and Etex's 17,500 employees wish Paul Van Oyen every success in guiding Etex on a path of continuous growth."