Gypsum industry news

US/Canada: Wynnchurch Capital Ltd, a US-based private equity firm, has made a growth equity investment in Canada's Gypsum Technologies Inc.

UK: As part of the 350th Anniversary Celebrations of French building materials group Saint-Gobain, time capsules filled by more than 30 Saint-Gobain brands have been buried at the company's UK Headquarters in Binley, West Midlands followed by the unveiling of a specially-commissioned landmark sculpture designed by architectural students at the University of Nottingham.

The time capsules have been collected from brands across the country, including British Gypsum, Jewson and Celotex, and have been filled with products and innovations from each brand, as well as mementos from current employees.

Richard Halderthay, director of communications at Saint-Gobain UK and Ireland, said, "We hope that when our future colleagues, the 18th generation of Saint-Gobain employees, unearth these capsules in 100 years, they will see how our employees were innovators of the time. This is a great opportunity to celebrate our history as well as share our vision for the future."

Russia: Knauf has begun the construction of a Euro16.8m gypsum dry building mix plant in Chapayevsk, Samara. The plant is expected to be commissioned at the end of 2016. The 170,000m² plant area is under municipal ownership and will be leased by Knauf for 49 years. The plant will be Knauf's 15th production enterprise in Russia.

"In the region there is a raw materials base, which is important for Knauf. As there is quite a large amount of construction in the region currently, construction materials producers are needed. We understand that it is much more advantageous to localise production here, than to transport materials from other regions and engage in, in particular, international logistics," said Samara's Regional Economic Development Minister Alexander Kobenko. "It is planned for the plant to reach full capacity in two and a half years. It will produce about 240,000t/yr of gypsum binder and 130,000t/yr of building mixes. This is about Euro25m/yr," said Kobenko.

China: China National Building Materials' (CNBM) 45.2%-owned subsidiary Beijing New Building Material Public Limited Company (BNBM) has agreed to acquire a 35% equity interest in Taishan Gypsum Company through a private issuance of 369 million BNBM shares to Taishan Gypsum minority shareholders at US$1.79/share for a total of US$661m.

Upon completion, BNBM will directly and indirectly hold the entire equity interest in Taishan Gypsum. Taishan Gypsum minority shareholders will hold 20.7% of the enlarged issued share capital of BNBM after the private issuance. The equity interest held by CNBM in BNBM will reduce from about 45.2% to 35.84%.

Upon completion of the transaction, Taishan Gypsum will be wholly-owned by BNBM, enabling CNBM to further integrate its internal resources, allowing BNBM to improve its operating results and further consolidate the group's market position.

US: Workers have been constructing a new facility to process by-products from FirstEnergy Corp's coal-fired power plant as the company makes a major change in how it disposes of industrial waste. Some of the plant's by-product is already sold and reused by National Gypsum, which takes about 500,000t/yr of synthetic gypsum for wallboard production.

The Ohio-based company plans to have the project ready for use at the end of 2016, when the company has agreed to halt the use of the residual waste impoundment known as Little Blue Run, which many neighbours have alleged has leaked hazardous waste and released noxious odours.

When the Bruce Mansfield plant removes sulphur dioxide from its emissions, it creates coal combustion by-products. FirstEnergy has been depositing much of the by-product in Little Blue Run, West Virginia. However, the state Department of Environmental Protection sued in 2012 over leaks and threats to groundwater. As part of a settlement, the company agreed to no longer use Little Blue Run by the end of 2016.

James Fitzgerald, Manager of major projects, said that new disposal sites for materials treated by the new dewatering facility will be different. "That landfill will have different regulations, different requirements. There are liners associated with it. So it's a whole different process," said Fitzgerald.

With the new facility, FirstEnergy will process 2.5 – 3.5Mt/yr of by-product, which consists of fly ash, sulphur and lime. It will be processed at the new facility, where water will be removed. The water from the process will then be reused at the plant, said Jim Graf, Director of the Bruce Mansfield plant. Once the new facility processes the by-product, it will be moved by barge to another site. The new project will cost more than US$200m.