Gypsum industry news

Finland: Knauf Oy is preparing to electrify the calcination process at its Kankaanpää gypsum wallboard plant. An electrified hybrid dryer was installed at the site in 2024. Now, four new 2MW heaters is scheduled to be added in the summer of 2026. The cost of the project will be around €5m. Knauf recently released its new LOWR product line, where boards are dried with an electrified plasterboard dryer using 100% renewable electricity.

China: Finland-based Valmet has received an order from Shanxi Qiangwei Paper to supply a machine vision system. The scope of supply includes an IQ Web Inspection System, an IQ Web Monitoring System and winder control with target-stop functionality. The investment aims to improve the operating efficiency and optimise the final paper quality of a paper production line.

Valmet is a global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. It is based in Espoo.

Shanxi Qiangwei Paper is located in the Shouyang Industry District of Jinzhong in Shanxi province. It mainly produces paper for gypsum wallboard products as well as packaging paper. It has a production capacity of 1.4Mt/yr.

Finland: Construction materials manufacturer Saint-Gobain has transferred some of the manufacturing of Gyproc Habito wallboard from the UK to Kirkkonummi in Finland. Deliveries from Kirkkonummi started at the beginning of 2017. Habito products are exported from Kirkkonummi to the Baltic and the Nordic countries.

The company has invested Euro1m in Gyproc Habito production at its Kirkkonummi site in 2017. Investments have been made in the laboratory, product development, personnel training and the production line. Virpi Riekkinen, Business Director at Saint-Gobain Finland, expects further investments to be made in 2018. Gyproc Habito accounts for roughly 10% of the production of the Kirkkonummi factory. The company expects to recruit around five new employees for the Kirkkonummi site in 2018.