US: USG plans to make a US$4.5m expansion to a mill building at its Jacksonville gypsum wallboard plant in Florida. The plant also produces ceiling tiles and panels and flooring and roofing materials. The Jacksonville Business Journal newspaper has reported that the company has applied to city authorities for a permit for the expansion.

US: The US construction industry is reportedly bracing for heightened labour shortages amid on-going federal enforcement actions against suspected illegal immigrants. Forbes has reported that sections of the workforce are ‘shaken,’ with some builders at one San Francisco firm avoiding certain tasks or not coming to work at all. Authorities have already deported three of the firm’s workers.

The National Association of Home Builders has proposed a new visa programme for construction workers and supportive pathways to legal residency for those already working in the industry. 61% of gypsum wallboard installers in the US were born in other countries.

The on-going US construction labour shortage reportedly cost the industry US$10.8bn in 2024, reducing new single-family homebuilding by 19,000 units.

Russia: UGMK’s Nadezhdinsky metallurgical plant in Serov will soon become a source of gypsum, following the installation of a flue gas desulphurisation system. Metals Daily News has reported that commissioning is scheduled for 2027.

Canada: Minerals company EDM Resources has entered a definitive gypsum offtake agreement with a ‘large, vertically-integrated’ gypsum and gypsum wallboard producer for the supply of US$58m-worth of gypsum from its Scotia mine near Halifax, Nova Scotia. Under the terms of the agreement, the buyer will make an advance payment of US$250,000 for five-year exclusivity on gypsum from the mine. The agreement is based on projected volumes over a 10-year period and covers half of the mine’s 5.1Mt reserves, including 1.53Mt of 93% purity and 3.65Mt of 91% purity gypsum.

EDM Resources President and CEO Mark Haywood said "We are very pleased to secure this third revenue stream opportunity for our Scotia Mine, in addition to other minerals streams."