Gypsum industry news

Kyrgyzstan: On 11 December 2015, Prime Minister Temir Sariyev inaugurated the Kyrgyz-Iranian gypsum plant in Ak-Suu, Issyk-Kul.

UK: Wastecycle's recycling facility in Colwick, Nottinghamshire is now one of the largest in the UK after an expansion of the site. By acquiring seven acres of property, which the company previously leased, and buying an additional four acres, Wastecycle has extended its site to nearly 20 acres.

"It's an exciting time for us because this expansion provides us with the platform we need to reach the next stage of growth as a company," said Financial Director Nathan Cole. "Over the long term, we plan to use the additional land to expand our extensive recycling and resource management activities. This will help us broaden the services we offer our customers while improving the quality and sustainability of the recycled products we manufacture."

The company has also completed an expansion of its main office to accommodate its growing workforce. After a 20% growth in staff 2015, it now employs almost 300 people across its Colwick site and its two sites in Leicestershire. "Ensuring our teams are comfortable in their working environments is very important to us because, not only does it increase productivity, but it also creates positive morale," said Cole. "Larger premises also provide the opportunity to open up new jobs, while improving the quality of service we can provide to customers."

Wastecycle separates 500,000t/yr of waste, including 18,000t/yr of recycling from 126,131 homes in the Nottingham City Council area. Some of the waste is turned into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for use at cement plants. It also sorts through the rubbish of thousands of businesses across Nottinghamshire, runs a skip hire service and operates a wallboard recycling facility, which it developed with British Gypsum.

In 2014, Wastecycle's turnover increased to Euro42.8m from Euro35.9m in 2013. In 2015, it won four awards, including a bronze environmental best practice accolade at the Green Apple Awards in November 2015. It was recognised for the success of its wallboard recycling scheme, which has prevented more than 30,000t/yr of wallboard from reaching landfill.

Romania: Siniat Romania, part of Belgium's Etex, will close its plant in Bucharest and quarry in Nucsoara in February 2016 in order to concentrate production at its recently-opened Turceni plant.

The decision was taken because Turceni has a better geographic proximity to the company's sales markets in south-east Europe, according to General Manager Marc-Andre Fritsche. The Turceni plant was opened in October 2015 in Gorj, south-west Romania, with an investment of Euro50m. It will incorporate the company's wallboard production activity and extend the portfolio with more complex products.

Siniat Romania has another plant in Aghiresu, Cluj. It posted a Euro25.8m turnover in 2014 and a loss of Euro1.15m.

US: Gypsum Management and Supply, Inc. (GMS), a leading North American distributor of wallboard, suspended ceiling systems and other specialty building products, has acquired Badgerland Supply and its six locations in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Badgerland has served the Wisconsin and Northern Illinois markets for over 25 years through its diverse offering of high-quality wallboard and construction products. Badgerland has an established market presence with a strong customer base primarily in the remodeling, residential, commercial and institutional sectors.

"We are pleased to have Badgerland Supply join our growing network of GMS companies," said Jerry Speights, Vice President of the Central Division of GMS. "Its longstanding presence in these dynamic Midwest regions, paired with its employees' in-depth knowledge of the local markets, makes Badgerland Supply an invaluable addition to the GMS family."

Thailand: SCG-Dow Chemical does not plan to shut its 200,000t/yr styrene monomer (SM) and 300,000t/yr polystyrene (PS) plants in 2016 for maintenance, according to an unnamed company source. The facilities in Map Ta Phut were shut in the first half of 2015 for a turnaround. SCG-Dow Group is a joint venture between Thailand's Siam Cement Group (SCG) and US' Dow Chemical.