Gypsum industry news

Philippines/Thailand: The Philippines Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has launched an investigation into imports of Thai gypsum wallboard. The investigation forms the first stage in the process of potentially implementing a tariff on gypsum wallboard entering the Philippines from Thailand. The investigation will seek to establish whether dumping of the product occurred between January and May 2023, and whether the wallboard industry of the Philippines experienced any injury due to imports from Thailand between 2019 and 2022. The Philippine Star newspaper has reported that the DTI accepted an application for an investigation from Knauf Gypsum Philippines on 24 November 2023.

The DTI preliminarily stated that “There was a substantial margin of dumping of gypsum board from Thailand for the period January to December 2022 based on the domestic wholesale and export prices as gathered by the gypsum board industry.” It added “Based on the aforementioned, there is a prima facie evidence that the domestic industry suffered material injury before the acquisition efforts as evidenced by the low market share of the domestic industry ranging from 23% to 40%, operating losses and price suppression from 2019 to 2021 and price undercutting in 2021.”

Spain: Knauf Ibérica is planning to build a 7.5MW biomass unit at its Guixers gypsum wallboard plant in Lleida. The unit will be operational by December 2024 and create around 200 jobs, according to La Vanguardia newspaper. The company intends to source wood biomass locally. Once operational it is expected to reduce the plant’s CO₂ emissions by 35%. The Guixers plant also installed photovoltaic solar panels earlier in 2023.

Alberto De Luca, chief executive officer of Knauf Ibérica, said “The launch of this project is a significant step towards reducing our carbon footprint and achieving zero emissions by 2045."

Spain: Pladur plans to start using green hydrogen at its Valdemoro gypsum wallboard plant from the second half of 2024. The subsidiary of Etex will then roll out the use of hydrogen at its other plants in the country, according to Forbes. It is also considering using biomethane and biogas generated from organic waste in its production processes.

Colombia: The Agência Nacional de Mineração (ANM) has included gypsum on a list of 17 strategic minerals that it considers key to helping the country develop. In addition to gypsum the list includes: copper; nickel; zinc; platinum; iron; manganese; metallurgical coal; phosphates; magnesium; bauxite; gold; emeralds; construction materials such as sands, gravels and clays; silica; limestone and chromium. It also includes various associated ores, concentrates and derivatives of the minerals on the list.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy originally compiled a list of strategic minerals in 2012 and the ANM has continued this since the start of 2023. By declaring certain minerals as ‘strategic’ the central government will have the power to reserve and delimit special areas with high mining potential that are free, in order to grant them to third parties through selection processes or other allocation schemes.

India: Saint-Gobain Gyproc has launched a range of products including gypsum wallboards. The new product line includes 'Habito Standard' a gypsum wallboard made for heavy unplanned and planned loading applications, 'Rigiroc,' a multi-purpose moisture resistant board and 'Glasroc X,' a wallboard for exterior applications. Saint-Gobain Gyproc also released a ceiling tile product at the same time.

Najwa Khoury, Global Gypsum Strategy Director at parent company Saint-Gobain, said "Saint-Gobain Gyproc continues to be committed to meeting the demands of the changing preferences and environmental conditions in India. Over the last few years, we have seen a growing acceptance of drywall and modern ceiling tiles in India, and we want to stay ahead of the curve. We are delighted to introduce a new range of innovative products that are functionally superior, sustainable, affordable and customizable, redefining the future of construction.”

The products will be available in India and neighbouring countries including Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.