Gypsum industry news

Bolivia: Representatives of the Vice Ministry of Mining, the National Service for the Registration and Control of the Marketing of Minerals and Metals, (SENARECOM), the Ministry of Mining of the Cochabamba Government, the Mining Cooperatives Federation of Cochabamba (FEDECOMIN) and gypsum producers have organised a meeting following a rise in the price of gypsum. The price of gypsum rose by 23% to US$23/t in late June 2018 following the setting of a new reference price by SENARECOM, according to the Los Tiempos newspaper. Since the price rise production at local plaster plants has been affected.

US: A team from Washington State University have developed bricks made from recycled gypsum wallboard. The blocks are made from 80% drywall waste and a binder made from industrial by-products. They are waterproof and lighter than earth blocks, bricks or concrete blocks. The researchers are partnering with local contractors to get the waste, and architecture students are using a press to build the blocks, which look like masonry bricks.

The researchers, including Taiji Miyasaka, professor in the School of Design and Construction, David Drake, adjunct faculty in the School of Design and Construction, and Robert Richards, a professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, began developing the wallboard blocks in 2017 with a grant from the American Institute of Architects. They have also received an Amazon Catalyst grant to move the project from laboratory scale to a demonstration structure. In the next year, the researchers will be testing the blocks to meet building, seismic and fire codes. They also aim to build a 15m² demonstration structure.

A prototype structure featuring the wallboard-based bricks will be displayed as part of the ‘Make/Do: A History of Creative Reuse’ exhibition that is running at the Washington State History Museum until December 2018.

New Zealand: Fletcher Building has appointed Michele Kernahan as Chief Executive Building Products. His former position of Chief Executive Construction will be taken by Peter Reidy, currently Chief Executive KiwiRail. Both appointments are effective from early November 2018. David Thomas, currently serving as the Interim Chief Executive Building Products, will return to his role as General Manager Winstone Wallboards once the appointments are effective.

Uzbekistan: Knauf holds a 70% share in the gypsum wallboard market. The German building materials producer sold 22.8Mm² of wallboard in 2017, according to the Trend News Agency. It increased the production capacity of its Bukhara wallboard plant in mid-2018 by 30% with an investment of US$22m. Knauf is also planning to build another wallboard plant in the country with an investment of over US$20m. This project is currently at the design stage.

US/China: The Office of the US Trade Representative has proposed placing a 10% tariff on mineral products from China, including gypsum products. The list includes over 600 items and it will come into force after a period for public comment in August 2018.

Mineral products affected by the proposed tariffs of interest to the gypsum wallboard industry include gypsum, anhydrite and plaster products made from calcined gypsum or calcium sulphate. Lime, cements and additives for cements, mortars and concretes are also affected.

The inclusion of additional products to a tariff list follows an earlier decision by the US government to tax imports from China worth US$34bn that came into force in early July 2018.