Gypsum industry news

France: Saint-Gobain’s sales grew by 14.5% on a like-for-like basis to Euro38.4bn in the first nine months of 2022 compared to Euro32.9bn in the same period in 2021. Strong sales growth was reported in all business lines although sales were driven in particular by the group’s High Performance Solutions business and its Asia-Pacific and North America regions.

The group noted that raw materials, freight and energy costs were growing, especially in Europe. It said that it had hedged around 80% of its natural gas and electricity purchasing needs for 2022 and around 60% for 2023. It has also been preparing continuity plans for its gas-consuming plants in Europe to ensure the flexibility of production to operate with less or alternative energy. The group said that its gypsum wallboard and construction chemicals production lines were “extremely flexible.”

By region the group said it had started the world’s first zero-carbon wallboard production at its Balsta plant in Sweden powered by biogas and ‘green’ electricity. In France it produced and marketed its Placo Infini 13 product, which is said is the first wallboard made from over 50% recycled gypsum.

UK: British Gypsum has started converting its heavy-good vehicle fleet fuel source to the biofuel Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) from diesel. The subsidiary of France-based Saint-Gobain expects to use 75,000l/week of HVO. This means that around 40% of its UK fleet will now operate on HVO fuel, with a further 10% using Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The use of multi-fuelled vehicles at this scale is expected to reduce its carbon emissions by approximately 70% year-on-year.

To support the implementation of HVO vehicles, the company has made several upgrades to site infrastructure that include a HVO refuelling point at its Robertsbridge plant and a new fuel island capable of delivering 110,000l/week at its distribution centre in Gotham.

Canada: CertainTeed Canada has welcomed the Canadian International Trade Tribunal's ruling in favour of six provinces and territories' anti-dumping measures on imports of gypsum wallboard. The tribunal found that imports of gypsum wallboard from the US threatened material injury to the domestic industries of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan and Yukon.

CertainTeed Canada chief executive officer Julie Bonamy said "CertainTeed Canada is committed to free and fair trade; we have helped shape the Canadian building products industry for more than 80 years." Bonamy concluded "We are committed to supporting our customers and employees through our facilities in Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg."

North America: France-based Saint-Gobain has appointed Steve Williams president of its newly created construction chemicals North Americas unit. The unit combines GCP Applied Technology's speciality construction chemicals business and Chryso. Saint-Gobain acquired both GCP Applied Technology and Chryso in 2021.

Steve Williams previously worked as Chryso's North America president from 2019. Prior to this he was cement producer Titan America's sales and marketing director between 2012 and 2015. Williams holds a bachelor of science degree from Brigham Young University and a master’s in business administration (MBA) from the University of Florida.

UK: The European Space Agency, University of Glasgow and others are using France-based Saint-Gobain's Bantycock, Nottinghamshire, quarry to test new drill bit designs for their Drill for Extensive Exploration of Planetary Environments Using Robots (DEEPER) project. The project aims to develop tens-of-metres-long spoolable drill 'strings' to help in the search for water on Mars. Researchers will use their prototypes to drill directly into the mine's gypsum deposits. Saint-Gobain said that the hydrated mineral gypsum provides a similar geological profile to that of Mars.

Gypsum wallboard production by Saint-Gobain subsidiary British Gypsum at its nearby Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire, and East Leake, Nottinghamshire, gypsum wallboard plants relies on Bantycock gypsum.

US: Saint-Gobain subsidiary CertainTeed's Buchanan gypsum wallboard plant in New York has successfully participated in a gypsum wallboard recycling pilot. Together with contractors Structure Tone and Cooper Recycling, it processed 20t of gypsum from waste wallboard in its gypsum wallboard production.

CertainTeed interior products vice president and general manager Jay Bachmann said "For us to achieve our sustainability goals, we must change the way we think. By partnering with organisations in the community like Cooper Recycling and Structure Tone, we can get there faster." Bachmann continued, "As the only gypsum manufacturing plant in New York, our colleagues in Buchanan were able to create a true circular economy. From the creation of drywall products to construction, to processing scraps and back into drywall production, the material is continuously used and never leaves the state. This maximises our company's positive impact while working to minimise our environmental footprint. Our Buchanan plant has increased our capacity to reuse recycled material, and we look forward to growing this successful pilot into a long-term programme, while working with builders and recyclers across the state. Partnering with CertainTeed, New York builders have the opportunity to not only reduce waste at their job sites, but also gain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) points on their projects."

The Buchanan plant joins CertainTeed's units at Nashville in Arkansas and Palatka in Florida in supporting the company's circular economic efforts in the US. The Nashville plant commissioned a 65,000t/yr line in May 2022, while the Palatka plant increased the recycled content of its wallboard by 18,000t/yr in August 2022. The Palatka plant plans to install a new 100t/hr Rotochopper grinding unit to replace its existing trommel machine in its reclaim processing and screening operations.

Poland: Saint-Gobain has signed a renewable electricity agreement (Power Purchase Agreement) with Tion Renewables AG (currently being renamed from Pacifico Renewables Yield AG), the German wind and solar power producer. The 15-year agreement will run from 2025 and cover around 45% of Saint-Gobain Poland's electricity needs.

"This power supply agreement is an important milestone for Saint-Gobain in Poland. It will contribute to a significant reduction in our CO₂ emissions, in line with the group's commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050' said Joanna Czynsz-Piechowiak, chief executive officer of Saint-Gobain Poland. "It will enable a reduction in CO₂ emissions of 135,000t/yr, i.e. nearly 20% of Saint-Gobain's scope 1 and 2 emissions in Poland.

The PPA foresees the purchase of approximately 190GWh of wind energy annually. This is equivalent to supplying about 100,000 European homes with renewable electricity each year. The total capacity of the wind farms is equivalent to circa 52MW spread over three sites and 20 wind turbines. This announcement illustrates how Saint-Gobain is stepping up the pace on its carbon neutrality roadmap and comes in the wake of the recent endorsement by the Science Based Targets initiative of the group's commitments to reduce CO₂ emissions by 2050.

France: Saint-Gobain and the solar manufacturer Megasol, the European leader in Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), have announced a strategic partnership. As part of this partnership, Saint- Gobain has acquired a minority stake in Megasol's business unit that develops and manufactures building-integrated photovoltaics in Deitingen, Switzerland. The partnership enables Saint-Gobain to extend its sustainable solutions offer for façades and to become the leading provider for BIPV façade solutions in Europe, one of the fastest growing segments of façade construction. At the same time, it gives Megasol access to Saint-Gobain’s customer base.

BIPV's solutions contribute to sustainable construction and decarbonisation by efficiently producing energy from the surfaces of buildings. Building owners cannot only comply with today’s and future energy regulations and increase their own energy efficiency, but they can also generate additional revenue by feeding the electricity into the grid.

This investment is in line with Saint-Gobain's 'Grow & Impact' plan to further strengthen its leadership position in light and sustainable construction.

Canada: Saint-Gobain has named Julie Bonamy Racine as the chief executive officer (CEO) of its subsidiary CertainTeed Canada. She succeeds Richard Juggery, who led the company for four years before being named CEO of Saint-Gobain Benelux in July 2022. She will also be CertainTeed Canada's first female CEO.

Bonamy previously worked as the CEO of Saint-Gobain Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. She joined the company in 2017 in Paris as Group Vice President, Strategy & Planning. Earlier in her career, Bonamy worked in the public sector, most recently as an adviser for the budget and digital sector for the Office of the French Minister for the Economy. She is a graduate of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (IEP de Paris) and the National School of Public Administration (Ecole Nationale d'Administration).

France: SaintGobain says that the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has approved its CO₂ reduction targets. The group plans to achieve net zero CO₂ emissions, both direct and indirect, along its entire value chain by 2050. This will entail a reduction in CO₂ emissions of at least 90% in the three scopes by 2050, with additional sequestration projects planned for residual emissions.

Saint-Gobain's commitments to reduce, in absolute terms, by 2030 from 2017 its direct and indirect CO₂ emissions (scopes 1 and 2) by 33% and its scope 3 emissions, mainly linked to purchasing and transport, by 16% by 2030 was already validated in 2020 by the SBTi. The group says it will continue to accelerate its roadmap, notably through improvements in energy efficiency, product weight reduction, increased recycled content and the use of green energies, in order to align its targets with the most demanding trajectory, which limits the rise in temperatures to 1.5°C.