Gypsum industry news
Egypt: Sales from Knauf's recently opened wallboard plant in Suez could reach US$15m in Egypt and Africa during the first year of production, according to Alexander Knauf, managing partner of the company. The company plans to sell 8Mm2 of gypsum wallboard during the first year of operation, Knauf said in a statement.
Russia: Turkey's Kastamonu Entegre plans to start construction of a gypsum wallboard plant in Kaluga, Russia. The plant will be located in the Lyudinovo Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Kastamonu Entegre signed an agreement with the regional authorities in 2014.
Egypt: The German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce (GACIC) has announced the opening of a new US$50m Knauf Egypt plant. The plant has a capacity of 15Mm2/yr of gypsum wallboard, 90,000t/yr of other gypsum products and 25Mm/yr of metal cutters. Construction in the Ataqa Suez industrial zone began in 2010. Suez was selected as the plant site because of its strategic location between raw materials sites, local markets and major export markets.
Knauf starts US$53m project in Uzbekistan
18 May 2015Uzbekistan: Knauf has started a new US$52.5m investment project at two of its plants in Bukhara. The move follows the signing of a new agreement in 2014 by Knauf and Uzstroymateriali JSC to boost economic cooperation between Uzbekistan and Germany.
Knauf has already invested US$51m in Uzbekistan. It has two plants in Bukhara: JV JSC Bukharagips, which produces dry building mixes and Knauf Gips Bukhara, which produces gypsum wallboard. The 60,000t/yr capacity Bukharagips plant started operations in August 2009, while the 20Mm3/yr capacity Knauf Gips Bukhara plant was built in 2011.
US: Wallboard recycler USA Gypsum has opened its US$3m wallboard recycling plant and corporate headquarters in the West Cocalico Township, Pennsylvania. The company said that the new buildings and equipment will produce better quality products more efficiently and will help USA Gypsum to divert even more wallboard waste from landfills.
The recycling plant also includes renovated buildings for packaging, storage and offices. In the past 10 years, USA Gypsum has diverted more than 225,000t of wallboard from landfills, converting it to beneficial use by farmers in the form of gypsum fertiliser, soil conditioners and amendments and gypsum animal bedding. In spite of this growth, USA Gypsum has estimated that less than 10% of wallboard scraps generated in Pennsylvania are recycled. USA Gypsum ships its gypsum products across the US and Canada.
Oman: USG Zawawi Drywall SFZ 's US$37m state-of-the-art gypsum plant in Oman's Salalah Free Zone (SFZ) was inaugurated on 6 May 2015 marking the formal start of commercial production of a range of Sheetrock brand gypsum wallboard products earmarked primarily for export across the Middle East and Indian subcontinent. USG Zawawi Drywall SFZ is a 50:50 partnership between USG Corporation, Boral and Zawawi Minerals.
"We are pleased to see the opening of this successful US-Omani venture. Building relations between the US and Oman is a top priority of the US Embassy and this work is a shining example of the strategic coordination that benefits both our countries," said Ann Mason, economic-commercial officer from the US Embassy. "We applaud USG Boral and Zawawi Minerals for taking full advantage of the potential of Salalah Port and Free Zone and the US Oman Free Trade Agreement."
Commissioning of the Salalah plant, which has 8Mm2/yr of gypsum wallboard production capacity, began in March 2015. It was designed to enable future expansion to double wallboard production capacity or add new products like construction plaster. The plant will produce a wide range of Sheetrock gypsum boards, including products resistant to water, fire, sound, impact and mould. According to Curt Loring, general manager of USG Zawawi Drywall SFZ, it will produce products with special certifications not currently manufactured or available in the GCC. These products are specially engineered for custom wall systems in demand by architects for commercial construction.
The products will be marketed across the Gulf and Indian Subcontinent. Uptake is expected to be robust around the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), where a commercial construction boom is already underway. The raw gypsum is sourced entirely from a major gypsum quarry located in the Thamrait area of Dhofar Governorate. The quarry is operated by Zawawi Gypsum and is jointly-owned by USG-Boral and Zawawi Minerals.
"USG Zawawi Drywall's investment is in keeping with the Omani government's economic policies advocating the sustainable commercialisation of natural resources to diversify the economy, create employment for Omanis and facilitate inflows of investment and know-how. The Salalah facility operates to the same stringent safety and environmental standards applied by USG at its facilities in the US," said Alawi Al Zawawi, chairman of USG Zawawi Drywall SFZ.
Awadh Al Shanfari, CEO of Salalah Free Zone explained that the project is a re-enforcement of the Free Zone's commitment to maximise the Sultanate's mineral wealth through national and foreign partnership. "In the past, we have been focusing on projects that can create new industries linked to the available raw materials in the Sultanate. As a result of our endeavours, we will be announcing more investments during 2015," said Al Shanfari.
Vina Kraft Paper to expand paper mill
07 May 2015Vietnam: Vina Kraft Paper Co Ltd (VKPC), a joint venture between Thailand's Siam Kraft Industry Co Ltd (part of Siam Cement Group – SCG) and Japan's Rengo Co Ltd, will spend an additional US$126m expanding its packaging paper plant in Binh Duong. VKPC will invest the money to double the existing paper capacity to 847,000t/yr. The plant was commissioned with an initial investment of US$171m in 2010 and is now the biggest packaging paper plant in Vietnam. The new production line is set for operation in the second quarter of 2017.
Volma to build US$19.7m gypsum plant in Adygea
28 April 2015Russia: Volma corporation is setting up a plant for the production of construction materials and gypsum-based products in the Republic of Adygea. The project has an investment of US$19.7m. It will have a production capacity of 0.24Mt/yr of dry mortars, 0.3Mt/yr of gypsum, 0.54Mm2 of gypsum partition blocks. Phase two of the project will build a gypsum plasterboard line.
Eternit inaugurates new wallboard plant in Peru
17 April 2015Peru: 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.
TXM announces 2015 plans
14 April 2015Vietnam: Gypsum and Cement JSC (TXM) has announced that it will target US$314,772 of pre-tax profit on US$29.2m revenues and 4% dividend in 2015. It reported US$384,207 of pre-tax profit on US$28.9m revenues and 3% dividend in 2014. In 2015, TXM plans to invest in the DAP Dinh Vu plant, which manufactures artificial gypsum, and is looking for partners for a project exploiting gypsum in Laos.