Gypsum industry news

Oman: The Ministry of Municipalities and Regional Resources says that commercial and industrial activities including gypsum manufacturing and installation can re-start operating following a coronavirus-related lockdown. The latest group of activities cleared to reopen covers over 50 commercial and industrial activities, according to the Times of Oman newspaper. The government initially implemented a lockdown in Muscat in early April 2020.

Oman: Zawawi Minerals has published a report in which it forecasts 11% year-on-year growth in gypsum exports, to 10.0Mt in 2020 from 9.00Mt in 2019. The report notes that Oman’s consistent supply of gypsum makes it the most important supplier to the Asian and South/East African regions. It contrasts the fitness of the Omani gypsum sector for exports with that of Pakistan, where bilateral trade with neighbouring India has been suspended since 7 August 2019.

Oman: The World’s leading gypsum-exporting country, the Sultanate of Oman, has recorded gypsum exports of over 9.0Mt in 2019 to its main recipient countries in Asia and South/East Africa. Omani producer Zawawi Minerals has estimated increased export volumes and prices by at least 6% to US$13.3/t from US$12.5/t. Its main competitor, Iran, whose gypsum exports were 4.3Mt in 2019, is set to export no gypsum in 2020 following the US-imposed executive order of 10 January 2020 banning mining in the country.

Oman: The Salalah Free Zone (SFZ) has signed three agreements worth US$80m to build three plants in the area, including two gypsum wallboard plants. The other factory will produce solar panels, according to the Times of Oman newspaper. The plants will be run by foreign companies including one from the US. They will create over 250 jobs.

Oman: Gypsum exports from Oman rose by 28% year-on-year to 9.47Mt in 2018 from 7.4Mt in 2017. Major destinations of gypsum included Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Japan and Indonesia. The country’s gypsum producers exported 3Mt to Vietnam, 2.9Mt to India and 1.25Mt to Bangladesh in 2018.

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, according to the Irish News newspaper. The project is part of an on-going Euro17bn government infrastructure investment to support mining, quarrying and the cement industry. It is Telestack’s largest single order to date.

Oman: Oman exported 6.76Mt of gypsum from January to November 2017. This compared to 4.86Mt from Thailand, according to Ramachandran, Director of USG Boral Zawawi Gypsum, an Oman-based producer and exporter of gypsum. This potentially marks a change to the gypsum export market in 2016 when Thailand exported 6.29Mt and Oman exported 5.6Mt. Other leading exporters in 2016 included Spain, Iran and Mexico.

Oman: A significant increase in the quantity of gypsum exported by Oman has helped the country to become the world’s leading exporter of gypsum. Shipments reached a record 6.32Mt during the first 10 months of 2017. Exports for 2017 are projected to top 7.30Mt, up from 5.65Mt a year earlier.

By contrast, the long-standing crude gypsum export leader Thailand has seen exports plummet in the wake of its decision to limit outflows of the commodity in favour of the south-east Asian nation’s thriving domestic gypsum and cement industries. Its exports are estimated to come to around 5Mt by the end of 2017, versus a record-setting 6.26Mt in 2016.

The rapid development of Oman as a gypsum export hub bodes well for the development of other mineral processing sectors in the country, according to Ramachandran, Director of USG Boral Zawawi Gypsum, one of Oman’s leading producers and exporters of gypsum.

“Considering that gypsum exports from the Sultanate were non-existent barely a decade ago, I think we have come a long way in a short time,” he said. “With improved cooperation and coordination among the exporters, suitably supervised by the Public Authority of Mining (PAM), the Sultanate can build on this landmark achievement and enhance non-oil export revenue growth from this promising economic industry.”

Ramachandran added that Oman’s large reserves and its geographic position serves it well to benefit from increasing gypsum consumption in the coming years. It is now the most important source of gypsum for at least 15 countries in Asia and Africa, including India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Kenya and Mozambique. By far the largest importer is India, which takes around 35% of the gypsum that Oman exports.

Oman: Hilal bin Mohammed al-Busaidi, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Public Authority for Mining (PAM), predicts that Oman is set to become the largest exporter of gypsum by the end of 2017. Its gypsum exports are expected to exceed 10Mt in 2018 from 4.6Mt in 2016, according to the Oman News Agency. So far the country has exported 6.1Mt in the first nine months of 2017.

PAM says that Oman has 1Bnt of reserves of gypsum. These are concentrated in the southern part of the country and in some northern regions notably in Al Shuwaimiyah, Thumrait, Sadah, Ghaba and Buraimi. The principal export markets for the product are India, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Oman: Exports of gypsum rose by 29% year-on-year to 3.29Mt in the first five months of 2017 from 2.55Mt in the same period in 2016. The boost in export volumes mainly arose in April and May 2017, according to data from the Oman Gypsum Association. Data from the Department of Primary Industries and Mines (DPIM) in Thailand suggests that gypsum exports have fallen from that country so far in 2017. Omani gypsum producers hope to take advantage of a growing supply deficit in Asian export markets.