Gypsum industry news

Canada: The Canadian Gypsum Company has stopped gypsum mining for the summer at its Little Narrows quarry in Cape Breton. A local councillor quoted by the Cape Breton Post newspaper said that mining has now stopped for the year. However he didn't believe that the company had yet decided whether to shut down the site completely. He added that synthetic gypsum taken from the power plants was replacing natural gypsum at gypsum wallboard plants along the east coast of the US.

In January 2016 the subsidiary of USG laid off 14 winter maintenance workers at the site.

Cuba: Rose Gypsum has won a tendering process to enter into negotiations to manufacture calcined gypsum, interior panels and ceiling panels and other gypsum based materials for the construction industry in Cuba.

Rose Gypsum said was selected on the grounds of its technical and professional expertise, following its negotiations with both Empresa Materiales De Construccion Ciego de Avila (EMC), the local state company responsible for the project and the Cuban Ministry of Construction (MICONS). The commencement of negotiations is scheduled to take place in Cuba in July 2016. Rose Gypsum is negotiating to become the joint operator, distributor and manufacturer on the project. If Rose Gypsum is successful in completing the deal, it will become the sole manufacturer of gypsum related products operating in Cuba.

"I am delighted with the progress we have made and I'm extremely excited about the opportunity we have to be involved in the rapidly expanding construction industry in Cuba and the redevelopment of the country. I am looking forward to the next phase of the negotiations and hope that we can conclude a successful transaction," said Matthew Idiens, CEO of Rose Gypsum.

Colombia: Etex Group intends to invest US$77m in its Colombian production plants in the next few years. Currently, the firm operates on the local market through gypsum wallboard producer Gyplac and cement producer Skinco Colombit. The expansion plans are expected to create up to 1000 direct and indirect jobs accord to the Portfolio newspaper.

Germany: Canada-based New West Gypsum Recycling (NWGR) has announced that it will invest in a new gypsum recycling facility in Hürth / Cologne, Germany. NWGR, together, with its local joint venture partner Schulz Baustoffe GmbH, will build a state-of-the-art plant with a gypsum recycling capacity of 90,000t/yr. It will begin operations in January 2017.

NWGR says that the plant location allows easy access to the main industrial areas of Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund and the south west of the Netherlands. It adds that the new plant will 'set the new standard in recycled gypsum, unmatched particle size and paper content, combined with the highest care for safety and the environment.'

100% of the recycled gypsum produced by the plant will be used in the production of gypsum wallboard in the Rigips plant in Scholven, Germany.

Canada: The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has launched an investigation in whether gypsum wallboard from the US is being sold at 'unfair' prices in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as well as the Yukon and Northwest Territories. The investigation is the result of a complaint filed by CertainTeed Gypsum Canada. The complainant alleges that jobs, profits and productivity in Canada are being harmed by the sale of these goods.

The CBSA and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) will both play a role in the investigation. The CITT will begin a preliminary inquiry to determine whether the imports are harming the Canadian producer and will issue a decision by 8 August 2016. At the same time, the CBSA will investigate whether the imports are being sold in Canada at unfair prices, and will make a preliminary decision by 6 September 2016.

A national anti-dumping investigation into gypsum wallboard from the US was previously conducted by the CITT in 1992.