Gypsum industry news

US: Georgia-Pacific has appointed its current President of Gypsum, David Neal, as Executive Vice President of Building Products, effective from March 2025. In his present role, Neal led a US$300m expansion to the group’s Sweetwater gypsum wallboard plant in Texas. He previously served as Vice President of Operations, as Regional Operations Leader and in other sales and operations management roles since joining the company as a plant manager in 2004. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Neal succeeds Andy Konieczka who will retire. Konieczka has worked for Georgia-Pacific and its parent company, Koch, since 1992.

Spain: The Directorate General of Mines and the Geological and Mining Institute are developing a new National Exploration Programme for Critical Raw Materials. Local press has reported that Spain’s gypsum is subject to on-going assessment as part of the programme. The organisations are evaluating sustainable extraction strategies and its potential contributions to the country’s technological and sustainability transition.

US: Eagle Materials raised its sales in the first nine months of 2024 to US$1.79bn – up by under 1% year-on-year. Its profit also grew by under 1%, to US$569m. In the group’s Light Building Materials business, gypsum wallboard sales were US$271m, up by 8% year-on-year.

President and CEO Michael Haack praised the growth in the face of ‘ongoing adverse weather’ conditions in the Midwest and Great Plains markets. He said “While the path to lower interest rates and improved home-buying affordability is less certain today, we remain optimistic about our businesses and our ability to execute on the opportunities in front of us. Steady employment, housing supply that remains chronically short and our cost-structure advantages continue to provide favourable conditions for our gypsum wallboard business.” He added “Our consistent, disciplined operational and strategic approach should position us to continue to perform well through economic cycles and deliver value over the long term.”

Spain: Paper products specialist Alier has begun construction of a new €40m gypsum wallboard recycling plant in Zaragoza’s López Soriano Recycling Technology Park. The plant will recycle gypsum wallboards powered by a solar plant and biomass plant, generating net zero CO₂ emissions. The Heraldo de Aragón newspaper has reported that the plant will create 130 direct jobs and an estimated 390 indirect jobs.

Kenya: The Kenyan government says that it is intensifying efforts to curb illegal gypsum mining, which is ‘rampant’ in the cement industry. Kenya News has reported that Cabinet Secretary Hassan Ali Joho claimed that 3000 unlicensed mines have already closed due to government actions since the beginning of 2022.

Joho said that Kenya’s cement sector has been ‘buying and using gypsum in cement manufacturing,’ however “There is no record of anyone licensed to mine gypsum in Kenya. There are no records on production, payment of taxes and royalties or community programmes undertaken by any gypsum dealer.” He added that this is because “They are doing it illegally.”