Gypsum industry news

Belgium: Etex has raised Euro800m through a sustainability-linked medium - long-term unsecured loan. The producer says that the private placement, called a Schuldschein in German finance law, comprises three Euro-denominated tranches with maturities of three, five and seven years, at fixed and floating rates.

CEO Bernard Delvaux said “We are very pleased with this new Schuldschein issuance which we successfully completed in a challenging context. It testifies to a significant appreciation of Etex’s credit quality, of its performance of the last years and it demonstrates the investors’ confidence in the company’s strategy. Moreover, this operation broadens our investors’ base at attractive market conditions, increases the number of maturities and considerably extends the duration of our debt profile.”

Spain: Alier has announced an agreement with creditors to restructure its debts. The agreement, to be officially settled in court, will make it possible for the plasterboard liner producer to continue the investment plan on industrial modernisation and quality improvements. The deal, supported by the major creditor banks, was made with the majority of the creditors on 28 June 2016.

Alier has forecast that its production of plasterboard liner for the gypsum wallboard industry will be 155,000t in 2016. Following its expansion plan this could reach 200,000t.