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Belgips sold to Russia’s Volma
Written by Global Gypsum staff
21 January 2014
Belarus / Russia: Belarus-based Belgips was sold to Russia's Volma Corporation in accordance with Belarus President's Decree No 34 'Concerning public joint stock venture Belgips.' The decree was passed on 16 January 2014.
The decree provides for selling 1.98m Belarus-owned shares of Belgips, 99.5% of the authorised capital of the company, to Volma at a market price that was in effect on 1 April 2012, without holding an auction or a contest.
The deal was conditioned on Volma Corporation signing an investment agreement with Belarus. The investment agreement provides for the upgrade of Belgips' production facilities and construction of a plant to produce gypsum-based building materials in the village of Gatovo, Minsk District. In line with the document, the new facilities are to be constructed on a step-by-step basis simultaneously with the development, evaluation and approval of the necessary project documentation at every phase of the works.
The investment agreement provides that at least Euro43m will be invested by 1 July 2018. Euro24.7m of that amount is to be transferred to the Belarusian company by 30 June 2016. The investment will be used to upgrade the existing production facilities and to construct the new plant.
The gypsum wallboard production line is to be modernised within two years and its capacity increased to 10Mm2/yr. Apart from that, the plant to produce gypsum-based building materials in the village of Gatovo is to be built and commissioned by 1 July 2018. The plant will manufacture up to 500,000m2/yr of gypsum partition blocks, 100,000t/yr of dry mixes and 30Mm2/yr of gypsum wallboard. No jobs will be cut before 1 July 2018.
The Minsk City Council will earmark a land plot for Belgips to build and maintain the facilities stipulated by the investment project. The land plot will be provided without an auction and a 99-year lease agreement will be signed. The lease agreement on the land plot at Kozlova Street will be extended utill 1 July 2019.
The investors will not be able to use the shares of the Belarusian company at their discretion until they fulfill the obligations stipulated by the investment agreement. If the investors fail to fulfill the obligations, Belarus reserves the right to take back the shares on a non-repayable basis.
CertainTeed invites building professionals to enter international gypsum competition
Written by Global Gypsum staff
17 January 2014
US: CertainTeed has invited North American building professionals enter the ninth Saint-Gobain Gypsum International Trophy Awards, which are held every two years.
"We are always excited to review projects and recognise those that show creative and exceptional uses of CertainTeed gypsum products," said Dave Engelhardt, president of CertainTeed Gypsum. "The Saint-Gobain Gypsum International Trophy is a great way to show our appreciation and respect for the top talent among our building professional partners. Balancing the complexity of material performance specifications, meeting client needs and staying on time and on budget is a challenging feat. To further contribute to a project with an outstanding, notable design is worthy of recognition."
The competition promotes gypsum-related skills in the categories of innovation, residential, mixed use, sector specific, finishing applications and gypsum board craftsmanship and design.
CertainTeed will select the top projects completed or projected to be complete between April 2012 and February 2014 and work with principals on project presentations for the international competition. A representative from each of the chosen projects will be awarded an all-expense paid trip to Berlin, Germany to compete in the finals, meet counterparts from other countries and view projects submitted from around the world. The winning projects will also receive national and worldwide publicity, including press release and social media promotion.
National Gypsum halts plans for tyre-burning power plant
Written by Global Gypsum staff
13 January 2014
US: National Gypsum has halted its plans for a West Milton power generation plant fuelled by burning tyres due to the plummeting price of natural gas and protests from local residents.
National Gypsum planned to buy steam and electricity produced from the plant, but with the price of natural gas considerably lower, using the tyre-burning power generator no longer offered cost savings. The company stated that it still firmly believes the En-Tire project is environmentally sound and would have provided much-needed jobs, but that it must also consider the objections of the White Deer community, with which it has a good working relationship.
"I'm glad to hear that," White Deer township supervisor Don Wilver said. "That speaks well of them as a partner in the community."
The Tyre Burner Team, a group that vocally and persistently protested the plant, plans to share its steps with other organisations and remains ready to re-commit to stopping the project should any such plans emerge again.
En-Tire Logistics LLC of Bedford, Texas, which would have operated the facility, plans to pursue a tyre-derived fuel plant elsewhere in Pennsylvania. The company is disappointed over the demise of the White Deer Energy Project, said CEO Willess Vincent. "We will be looking for another site for the facility and will absolutely look in Pennsylvania," he said, but would not disclose where. Vincent signed the written request sent to the state Department of Environmental Protection to shelve the air-quality permit approval the agency had granted the project in September 2013.
Rhino Linings Corp acquires Expo Stucco
Written by Global Gypsum staff
19 December 2013
US: Rhino Linings Corporation has acquired the assets of Expo Industries Inc, a San Diego-based manufacturer of Expo Stucco™ interior and exterior stucco products, sealers, bonders, patch products and plaster mixes.
The acquisition expands Rhino Linings line of building products, which already include waterproofing products, spray polyurethane foam insulation, decorative concrete and epoxy flooring systems.
"Expo Stucco is a well-respected and recognised leader in the building industry," said Pierre Gagnon, president and CEO of Rhino Linings Corporation. "Since Expo Stucco blended and packaged our Concrete Solutions bag mixes, we are now able to bring product packaging in-house and expand our line of building products. We are also excited about the opportunity to expand name recognition and sales for the Expo Stucco brand."
Attorneys secure US$24m settlement in Chinese wallboard lawsuit
Written by Global Gypsum staff
09 December 2013
US: A US$24m settlement has been reached between owners of Villa Lago, a collection of private residences in Boynton Beach, South Florida and Coastal Construction regarding 'defective' Chinese wallboard.
A two-tower condominium complex was constructed by RCR Holdings II LLC at Villa Lago using Chinese wallboard. Once the residents became aware of the 'defective' wallboard they formed a class action and sued RCR Holdings. However, since RCR kept equity in the property, the two sides soon joined forces against the general contractor, Coastal Construction and other defendants.
RCR Holdings maintained that Coastal Construction and the other defendants knew the wallboard was defective when it was being installed. They further alleged that Coastal's conduct fell below the duty of care owed the class. The defendants denied knowingly using defective wallboard, although a settlement was eventually reached after six mediations.
Coastal agreed to pay US$24m, which was preliminarily approved by US District Judge Eldon Fallon on 24 April 2013. The Villa Lago owners are using the funds to remove the 'defective'wallboard.