Gypsum industry news

Uzbekistan: Knauf Gips Bukhara has suspended production of gypsum wallboard at its plant in Bukhara until 1 March 2018 while it builds a new production line. The upgrade is planned to increase the unit’s production capacity by 30%. It was originally scheduled for completion in 2017. Knauf has spent Euro40m on the project.

Vietnam: USG Boral plans to invest US$20m towards upgrading its gypsum wallboard plant at the Hiep Phuoc Industrial Zone in Ho Chi Minh City. The project will increase the plant’s production capacity by 17Mm² to 47Mm² when it starts operation in September 2019.

"We have witnessed strong growth from this region so our decision to invest in the plant is a strategic one. We remain committed to building USG Boral's presence in Southeast Asia. This expansion will see USG Boral utilising our latest Sheetrock technology to provide superior building solutions for the Vietnam market," said Frederic de Rougemont, CEO of USG Boral.

USG Boral started wallboard production in Vietnam in 2006. It produces the Sheetrock, FireBloc, Durock and Firerock brands.

South Korea: Wacker Chemie has broken ground on a new expansion project at its Ulsan plant. The group is building a new spray dryer for dispersible polymer powders at the unit, which will have a total capacity of 80,000t/yr. It is also constructing an additional reactor for dispersions based on vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer (VAE), which are needed as the raw material for the spray dryer to produce dispersible polymer powders. Wacker says that the Ulsan’s plant complex, which covers the entire production chain from VAE dispersions to dispersible polymer powders, will be one of the largest of its kind in the world. Investments will total around Euro60m and production is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2019.

The expansion is intended to meet growing demand for its binder products in the construction industries in South Korea and Southeast Asia. Wacker dispersions and dispersible polymer powders are used in a variety of construction industry applications including modifying gypsum plasters and fillers.

US: USG plans to upgrade its Jacksonville gypsum wallboard plant in Florida. As part of the investment, a new production line will be added to manufacture USG’s Securock ExoAir 430 panels. Investments will be made at the site to improve overall plant efficiency, including upgrades to modernise process mill equipment.

Construction and plant updates are expected to be completed by the end of 2018. The company also plans to add approximately 20 new jobs as a result. The addition of the high-speed, automated production line in Jacksonville is intended to allow USG to distribute Securock ExoAir 430 to more customers throughout the US and Canada.

US: USG’s Washingtonville gypsum wallboard plant in Pennsylvania plans to spend US$8m towards automation upgrades in 2017. Plant manager Nicholas Latkovic told the Daily Item newspaper that the company also expects to spend US$8m or higher in 2018. The upgrade will include 20 automated guided vehicles and automated board handling equipment to speed up the production process by 20%. The investment is also expected to add four or five people to the total workforce of 125.

US: National Gypsum is upgrading its paper plant in Oxford, Alabama. The work includes replacing a boiler at the site first installed in 1950s, according to the Anniston Star newspaper. The investment is intended to reduce operational costs and increase energy efficiency. Paper produced at the plant is used in the manufacture of gypsum wallboard at the company's other plants. No value for the upgrade has been disclosed.

South Korea: KCC has completed the third gypsum wallboard line at its Seosan plant in South Chungcheong. Following the upgrade, the plant has increased its production capacity by 40% to 24.2Mm2, according to the Maeil Business Newspaper. Commercial production on the new line is expected to start in July 2017. KCC also says that it has become the largest wallboard producer in the country.

UK: British Gypsum has completed a Euro7.4m upgrade of its Barrow-Upon-Soar gypsum mine. The investment is expected to secure supplies of gypsum to produce gypsum wallboard for 20 years at the company's production sites at East Leake in Nottinghamshire and Fauld in Staffordshire, and at British Gypsum's sister business Saint-Gobain Formula based at Newark, according to the Loughborough Echo. The upgrade will allow the mine to be expanded using conveyors, fans and other mining equipment.

Russia: Knauf Petroboard and the local government of the Leningrad region have signed a Euro54m deal to upgrade a gypsum wallboard liner plant in Kommunar. Two thirds of the funds will be used to upgrade equipment at the site with the remainder targeted at treatment works, according to the Stroygaz newspaper. Start-up for the equipment is scheduled for the end of 2018. The agreement has been announced as part of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum framework.

Peru: Eternit Perú plans to spend around US$8.7m towards security, technology and plant productivity by 2020. Over half of this investment, US$4.4m, will be spent in 2017, according to the El Comercio newspaper. The building materials producer intends to double its gypsum wallboard business by 2020 and it has started a new marketing campaign to support this aim. It has recently won a government tender to build 2600 temporary homes using its wallboard system and it also plans to start exporting products to New Zealand in the short term.