Gypsum industry news

US: Eagle Materials reported sales of US$2.1bn in 2022, up by 15% year-on-year from 2021 levels. The producer's earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 19% to US$782m. Its light materials sales, including gypsum wallboard, rose by 22% to US$981m. Sales volumes of gypsum wallboard rose by 4% to 87.8Mm³, while it raised prices by 17% to US$8.46/m³.

President and CEO Michael Haack said "Looking ahead, we anticipate continued attractive fundamentals in our markets, despite headwinds relating to higher interest rates and affordability constraints in single-family residential construction. Among the favourable demand factors we expect will affect our results in future periods are projected funding increases for infrastructure projects and healthy demand for heavy industrial projects and multi-family residential construction. We remain well-positioned to capitalise on these conditions, given our geographical footprint across the (Central) US Heartland and fast-growing Sun Belt (Southern US) and our financial strength and flexibility."

France: Saint-Gobain recorded sales of Euro51.2bn during 2022, up by 16% year-on-year from Euro44.2bn in 2021. The group reported that its sales volumes fell by 1.3% year-on-year. It nonetheless recorded growth in revenues of 9.2% in Northern Europe, 8.2% in Southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 33% in the Americas and 19% in Asia-Pacific.

During the year, Saint-Gobain made Euro3.8bn-worth of divestments, including of its Polish and UK distribution businesses, and Euro1.9bn-worth of new acquisitions.

CEO Benoit Bazin said “In an unsettled geopolitical, energy and macroeconomic environment in 2022, the group once again delivered record results. The group’s profile has been profoundly optimised: one-third of the group’s scope has changed in the past four years and over 60% of our earnings now come from North America and emerging countries." Bazin continued "I am confident that 2023 will be a good year for Saint-Gobain. Our roadmap is clear: disciplined execution of the Grow & Impact strategic priorities, leveraging the strength of our operating model against the backdrop of a slowdown in new construction but good resilience in renovation."

Romania: Germany-based Knauf has announced plans for the construction of a new gypsum wallboard plant at Huedin in Cluj County. The company said that it plans to invest Euro76m in the plant’s construction. It says that the investment will advance the Romanian government's 'energy savings offensive' by supporting a renovation drive for the country’s housing stock. The government aims to increase the national area of modern renovated properties by a factor of six, with a Euro30bn allocation from its Recovery and Resilience Fund.

Knauf's managing partner Alexander Knauf said “The commitment demonstrates our trust and confidence in the country and our employees. We look forward to becoming part of the local community. Together, we are setting new standards for building and living in Romania.”

Knauf had previously planned to build a 35Mm²/yr gypsum wallboard plant at Huedin at a cost of Euro70m. A mine at nearby Aghireșu would supply the planned plant with raw materials. The Aghireșu mine reportedly has 100 years' worth of gypsum reserves. Knauf first delayed its Huedin plant plans in 2009 in light of the economic situation at that time.

US: Gypsum wallboard producers sold 1.32Bnm² of gypsum wallboard in the first half of 2022, a similar amount to that in the first half of 2021. Total supply of gypsum fell by 2% to 20.3Mt from 20.8Mt. This was due to decline in mined gypsum supplies, although imports rose and synthetic gypsum supply remained the same.

Exports of gypsum wallboard fell slightly year-on-year to 18.6Mm² throughout the second quarter of 2022, up by 10% year-on-year from 16.9Mm². Canada received 95% of US gypsum wallboard exports. The US imported 22.9Mm² of gypsum wallboard from eight countries. The figure corresponds to an increase of 10% year-on-year and 3% quarter-on-quarter. Mexico supplied 91% of US gypsum wallboard imports, followed by Canada with 8%.

India: Saint-Gobain India plans to invest US$759m – US$1bn between 2021 and 2025 to expand its light materials capacity. The Hindu newspaper has reported that the majority of the investments will go towards capital expenditure projects, while the remainder will fund new acquisitions and accelerate the company’s digitisation. It estimated that new acquisition will total US$144 – 150m in value.

US: Eagle Materials offset higher energy and maintenance costs by raising the prices of its products in the first quarter of its 2023 financial year. This contributed to an 18% year-on-year sales rise to US$561m. The group achieved earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$184m during the quarter, up by 13% year-on-year.

President and CEO Michael Haack said "Our results this quarter exceeded our expectations, as our portfolio of businesses performed well, and we executed on the opportunities available to us. Construction activity remained healthy across our markets, and we realised broad pricing gains across our portfolio again this quarter."

The producer’s light materials sales rose by 30% year-on-year to US$248m due to increased gypsum wallboard sales volume and prices. Wallboard volumes increased by 5% to 74.1Mm2; their average price increased by 24%. Haack said “In our light materials sector, wallboard shipments and orders remain strong, but we recognise quantitative tightening will likely have an impact on residential construction activity in the future. In the near term, we expect record home construction backlogs to support product demand this year. With Eagle's excellent balance sheet, the favourable geographic positioning of our operations and consistent execution of our operating strategies, we are poised for a strong fiscal 2023."

Kazakhstan: Alina Group plans to invest US$112,000 in the construction of a gypsum wallboard ‘mini factory’ in Almaty Region. Kazakhstan Newsline has reported that the company expects to commission the facility in 2022. The group is already engaged in the construction of two building materials plants in the region, at a total investment cost of US$35.9m.

US: ML Environmental Group has secured a strategic partnership and exclusive US distribution agreement with gypsum wallboard recycling technology producer Scott Equipment Company. Scott Equipment Company produces the GypStream paper backing removal system. Together, the companies say that they will expand the gypsum wallboard recycling solutions offering available to US customers.

Scott Equipment Company business development and product marketing manager Kevin Pedretti said "Our recycling systems, including both the food waste organics recovery system and the gypsum wallboard separation and recovery machines, position nicely with ML Environmental Group's vision to offer their customers an end-to-end solution.” He continued "We have been very impressed with the leadership and growth of ML Environmental and look forward to making the world a better place with this partnership."

World: Market researcher IMARC Group has forecast a global gypsum wallboard market composite annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.2% between 2021 and 2026. The prediction is based on a starting value of US$24.4bn in 2020. IMARC Group surmises that the residential sector will dominate demand, which will be strongest in the Asia Pacific region.

Oman: A geological survey undertaken by Minerals Development Oman (MDO) in Shaleem has uncovered ‘large’ local gypsum reserves. The Muscat Daily newspaper has reported that MDO CEO Nasser al Maqbali said that the reserves would contribute to the continued steady growth of Omani crude gypsum’s stake in the global gypsum market. Maqbali added that the resource is characterised by high purity, competitive prices and proximity to consumer markets.

MDO previously discovered 15Mt-worth of gypsum reserves in Wadi Al Jizi, from which it will supply 1Mt/yr of gypsum to the local steel industry. Uses of limestone in the steel sector include flue gas desulphurisation (FGD), which produces synthetic gypsum.