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3 July 2008 Major contract signed at GGC 2008

At the Global Gypsum Conference in Dubai, Claudius Peters (CP) of Germany secured a contract with Mada Gypsum Co for a gypsum calcining system designed to produce stucco as part of a new wallboard line. The system, which will be on a tight delivery schedule, will be installed in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, and will be in production in early 2009. The initial negotiations between Mada Gypsum Co, CP’s gypsum specialists and CP’s local agent were held in Riyadh in March 2008.

According to an official press statement: “Claudius Peters’ equipment is in operation in hundreds of systems worldwide. This is a testament to the reliability and proven efficiency of Claudius Peters Gypsum Technik.”

2 July 2008 USG earns prestigious Climate Action Leader™ title

USG Corporation has announced that it has certified its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory with the California Climate Action Registry, becoming the first building materials manufacturer to earn the distinction of Climate Action Leader™. USG is now publicly and voluntarily reporting its GHG emissions under the country’s most rigorous voluntary GHG reporting programme.

William C Foote, USG Corp’s chairman and CEO said: “USG has a long-term track record and solid history of environmentally-friendly manufacturing practices. As a founding member of the US Green Building Council, and now the first building materials manufacturer to be certified as a Climate Action Leader™, my colleagues and I are proud to further demonstrate USG’s commitment to sound environmental practices.”

2 July 2008 Lafarge to open wallboard plant in China

A field survey has been made by Lafarge to Yangluo, Wuhan of Hubei province. The company plans to input US$50m and construct a gypsum board plant in Yangluo. The design capacity for the gypsum board is 40-50Mm2/y. The raw material is desulphurised gypsum generated in thermal power plants close to Wuhan.

1 July 2008 ProBuild names Rugg as president, gypsum

ProBuild Holdings Inc, the US’s largest professional building materials supplier, has announced the appointment of Robert F Rugg as president, gypsum. Mr Rugg will oversee all strategic activities for the gypsum business throughout ProBuild and will report to Bill Myrick, ProBuild chief operating officer.
“We are pleased to have someone of Robb’s calibre join the organisation,” said Myrick. “His knowledge of the industry, and proven track record, position him as a strong leader for our gypsum business.”

Mr Rugg joins ProBuild from The Drake Group LLC, where he managed a large association of independent building material dealers serving residential and commercial segments. Additionally, Robb served as president at James Hardie Gypsum and executive vice president at James Hardie Industries. Prior to this, Robb worked for USG for 19 years in various marketing, strategic planning and general management roles.

1 July 2008 Rapidwall proves popular in Indian construction market

India’s FACT is introducing fibre glass-reinforced gypsum load bearing wall panels made from phosphogypsum, which is considered a novel concept in the building industry. FACT is popularising technology developed by Australian firm Rapid Building System (RBS).

The technology, popularly known as Rapidwall, offers several benefits. Senior officials at FACT say Rapidwall is an eco-friendly alternative building material that is available at a competitive cost. It is ideal for construction of individual domestic cottages and multi-storeyed buildings and can be used as formwork for suspended concrete floor structures. Panels of 12m by 3m and 120mm thickness can be manufactured and can be cut to the required size.

The use of phosphogypsum wall panels is an answer to the perennial shortage of river sand, one of the most widespread instances of environmental damage. Large-scale sand mining from riverbeds leads to disastrous consequences, apart from making sand a scarce commodity.

Design and construction of disaster-resistant houses and buildings is unaffordable for the most Indian people. According to officials, buildings using the gypsum panels are earthquake-resistant, cheaper (since construction costs can be reduced by 25%) and can be built approximately 50% faster. A memorandum of understanding was signed by FACT, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) and the Australian company for the supply of technology, licences and critical equipment for manufacturing fibre glass gypsum load bearing walls on a commercial basis. The new plant for producing gypsum-based building materials is being put up at Ambalamedu and is expected to start production by May 2009.

The plant will produce 1.4Mm2/y of load bearing panels and other products such as wall plaster and wall putty. The plant will be jointly installed by FACT and RCF with a total investment of US$18.7m.

30 June 2008 Imperial announces first quarter results

Imperial Industries has announced the results of operations for the first quarter ended which ended on 31 March 2008. Net sales for the first three months were US$9,346,000, compared to US$16,531,000 in the same period in 2007. For the first quarter 2008, Imperial had a net loss of US$1,955,000 compared to a net income of US$381,000 in the same period in 2007.

In other news, Imperial Industries has announced that Douglas P Kintzinger was elected a Director at its Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on 9 June 2008.

29 June 2008 Rebranding for Saint-Gobain Vietnam

Saint-Gobain Construction Products Vietnam has announced the re-branding of its gypsum boards manufactured at the Hiep Phuoc Industrial Zone, near Ho Chi Min City. The Vinh Tuong brand-name and ubiquitous Elephant logo are being discontinued and all the boards manufactured in Vietnam are now re-branded as ‘Gyproc’. In addition, all Saint-Gobain gypsum boards in Asia are changed from ‘Gypboard’ to ‘Gyproc’; and the corporate brand of ‘BPB-Thai Gypsum’ is changed to ‘Saint-Gobain Gypsum.’

28 June 2008 Federal Gypsum workers still waiting for money...

It has emerged that the 55 employees working for Federal Gypsum’s struggling wallboard plant at Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, had not been paid even prior to being laid off in June 2008 for a planned one month shut down. This is according to an unnamed worker who spoke to local radio station 101.5 The Hawk.

When questioned, executive vice-president Michael Simpson said he did not know precisely how long it had been since the workers had been paid, saying that it probably had not been in “the last couple of weeks anyway,” Simpson explained: “Unfortunately, our lender decided it was not in their best interest to advance the money for payroll, so we’re going to have to liquidate the inventory to get the employees paid.”

“I cannot stress enough how much we appreciate the hard work our employees have put in, we feel terrible that this has happened and we are doing everything we can so the lenders get their money out first and so we can pay the employees.” Simpson also said that he has not drawn a salary from the company in months.

20 June 2008 Lafarge aids in reconstruction of Sichuan province

Lafarge has become the first Fortune 500 company to open a new factory in Sichuan Province, southwest China, since the Wenchuan earthquake on 12 May 2008. Lafarge Boral Gypsum Asia (LGBA) announced that Lafarge Gypsum (Chengdu) Co, Ltd, a new plant of Lafarge Gypsum China, was put into operation in Jintang County, Chengdu on 18 June 2008. With an investment of US$15.9m, the plant is designed to produce 20Mm2/y of plasterboard.

Christian Devillers, CEO of Lafarge Gypsum, said, “We are convinced that Sichuan’s economy will quickly recover, and we will be resolutely working hard with the Sichuan people and all Chinese people to build an even more beautiful future for Sichuan,” he said. Plasterboard’s earthquake-proof coefficient is much higher than traditional brick and concrete walls, added Devillers.

According to Devillers, the new plant will manufacture plasterboard with approximately 50-100% recycled materials, and will increase Lafarge Gypsum China’s capacity from 50Mm2/y to more than 70Mm2/y. This development is on the back of Lafarge already having donated over US$2m worth of cash and goods to the earthquake-affected areas.

17 June 2008 Knauf invests Euro13.5m in Russian gypsum facility

Knauf CIS, a part of the Knauf Group, has invested about Euro13.5m to start producing gypsum stone in the Arkhangelsk Region, according to a regional government’s press statement on 17 June 2008.
Construction of the facility started in 2006, after the company obtained a license to explore and produce gypsum in the region. The company is expected to develop the Glubokoye deposit with gypsum reserves of over 20Mt. The facility was due to open on 19 June 2008. Gypsum produced at the deposit will be used at the company’s plant in St Petersburg for the production of gypsum plasterboard, dry construction mixtures and other materials.

Knauf has been present in the Russian market since 1993. In Russia, Knauf produces gypsum plasterboard, dry indoor finishing materials, gypsum-based dry pack mortar, metal sections, brickware and polystyrene foam boards.

7 June 2008 Saudi expands gypsum output

Saudi investment firm Al-Ahsa Development has received an official approval from the country’s Ministry of Industry and Trade for the construction of a gypsum plant in al-Ahsa, eastern Saudi Arabia, with total investments of US$40.3m (Euro26m). According to a feasibility study, the project will generate an annual revenue of up to US$23.5m (Euro15.2m). The plant will have an annual capacity of 500,000t of gypsum products and is expected to create 78 jobs upon completion.

6 June 2008 Gypsum may hold the key to life on other planets

While the Phoenix Mars lander starts to scrape the surface in hopes of verifying that it's sitting on a swath of polar ice, new research here on Earth has raised yet more evidence that life can survive in the most extreme conditions. On Mars, the Phoenix will ultimately analyse ice samples to determine if compounds necessary for life, or other evidence of life, are locked up there. Researchers have long suspected that conditions for life were once present on Mars, when free-flowing water might have incubated rudimentary life forms. Some have even guessed that life originated there, or somewhere else in the universe, and arrived on Earth via meteorites.

The research on Earth, published in New Scientist, suggests that conditions would not have had to have been so friendly to support life. Scientists studying the sediments of salty, acidic lakes in Western Australia and North Dakota have identified fossilised 'hairy blobs' that in 'close-up, look like something out of a 1950s B-movie.' No, they aren't fossils of extraterrestrial life, but they provide a framework for identifying life that thrived in some of the harshest conditions on Earth, and those same conditions may well have existed in some of the oceans on Mars. The blobs are emblematic of what science fiction fans might expect from the search for extraterrestrial life. They've got a great name, but they aren't that impressive outside of a slide viewed by microscope. These hairy blobs, at less than 2mm, would hardly make imposing villains in a thriller.

Here's how the research, by Kathleen Benison, a geologist at Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, was described by the university: The team argues that each hair was in fact a separate microorganism because the hair fossils are made of disordered graphite which, unlike inorganic graphite, has irregular layers that suggest it was once a live organism. Many of the hairs are coated with crystals of gypsum, a calcium sulphate mineral. This link with gypsum suggests that the microorganisms were fuelled by chemical interactions with sulphur in the acidic water - which helped the gypsum to form. The team also found previously undescribed microorganisms in the lake water, which they say may be the cells that end up as fossilised hairs.

Conditions in acidic saline lakes such as those studied by the team are thought to be similar to those on ancient Mars. The many probes currently exploring the Red Planet have discovered that Martian seas and lakes, such as those once found at Meridiani Planum, were strikingly similar in terms of acidity, salinity and the minerals and sediments present.

Benison says the hairy blobs from the Permian halite seem well preserved. "This argues for long-term preservation of microfossils in halite elsewhere, perhaps even on Mars." Had the organisms lived on Mars, she says, the inorganic minerals surrounding them would have acted as protection from the ultraviolet radiation there.

In the past few years, scientists have found tantalising evidence of a once-watery Mars, new Earth-like planets and evidence on Earth of strange creatures that live in the most extreme conditions imaginable, including strong acids, boiling heat, frigid cold and airless subterranean pockets. In other words, the idea that life exists elsewhere has never seemed more plausible. If the thought excites you, you can volunteer your home computer's idle time in the search for intelligent life in outer space. If extraterrestrial civilizations are trying to contact us with radio signals, this mission is the best chance we have of hearing them.

University of California-Berkeley's eight-year-old SETI@home project uses the computing power of 320,000 individual desktop computers to crunch data. Now, with 500 times more data streaming in from an upgraded Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico – enough data to fill the Library of Congress each year – scientists are seeking more volunteers willing to link their computers to the distributed super computer.

30 May 2008 US$600m plant online to produce synthetic gypsum

PPL company officials hosted state legislators, environmental officials, community leaders and media on Thursday 30 May 2008 for a tour of its new 'scrubber' project, which its says will remove at least 97% of sulphur dioxide from plant emissions and will also reduce the release of mercury and other materials. PPL also promoted the project’s benefits in terms of job creation, noting that it provided hundreds of jobs during construction, about 30 permanent new jobs to operate and maintain the scrubbers and related equipment, and about 150 permanent jobs from the United States Gypsum Co. drywall plant being built across the road to make use of the scrubber system’s synthetic gypsum byproduct.

“This is a great example of how PPL generates electricity reliably, efficiently and in an environmentally responsible manner,” plant manager Michael Munroe said. “This entire project is just a win-win situation for everyone.

"Today we’re celebrating a major investment in Pennsylvania’s environment, economy and electricity infrastructure,” William H. Spence, PPL’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, was quoted in a company press release about the project. Spence added the investment helps ensure the long-term viability of the plant, which produces more than 10bnkW hours a year of power for business, industry and residents. The scrubber system goes into use at a time when the nation’s focus on energy prices has renewed discussion about coal’s viability — and its emission drawbacks.

Limestone’s the key

It is limestone that helps clean the coal emissions. At the limestone building on the grounds, Munroe showed the machinery that turns limestone into a workable solution for the scrubber. “The limestone goes into the mill where it meets up with these steel balls that pulverise it,” he said. During the burning process, calcium in the limestone reacts with the sulphur dioxide to form calcium sulphite, which collects at the bottom of the scrubber vessel. The calcium sulphite is then pumped with air to create synthetic gypsum. That’s why United States Gypsum is building its 600,000ft-square, US$180,000m facility, which will also use synthetic gypsum from PPL’s Brunner Island facility in York County, Munroe said. Munroe stressed how the new environmental controls were added to the plant while it remained operational. “It was a bit of a chore,” he said, but a competent team with good plans made it happen.

The tour also included a demonstration of a massive, hydraulic-operated cradle that effortlessly dumps a railroad car loaded with 100t of coal. As it’s dumping, a mist is sprayed to eliminate dust. “100t of coal delivered in a matter of seconds,” Munroe said.

The opening event foreshadows the completion of a similar scrubber project at the Brunner Island plant. The first of its scrubbers is scheduled to begin operating late this year and the second in spring 2009. The improvements at both locations represent a combined US$1.6bn investment by PPL in environmental upgrades for its coal-fired power plants. The scrubbers, in fact, represent the second largest construction project in PPL history, trailing on the construction of the Susquehanna nuclear power plant near Berwick. PPL has announced that, by 2010, all of its major coal-fired power plants will have the scrubbers.

30 May 2008 CertainTeed wallboard plant opens in Virginia

Governor Joe Manchin and executives of Saint-Gobain and American Electric Power gatherered near Moundsville, Virginia to celebrate the official dedication of CertainTeed Gypsum's new gypsum wallboard plant. The US$100m plant is the largest investment in a new manufacturing plant in the state since 1996, when Toyota announced it would build an engine factory in Buffalo.

The wallboard plant uses gypsum produced at the nearby Mitchell generating station, which is operated by American Electric Power's Appalachian Power subsidiary. The FGD gypsum is a byproduct of the scrubber process at the Mitchell plant. CertainTeed is the US-based operating unit of Saint-Gobain, which is headquartered in Paris, France.

27 May 2008 CertainTeed to Be Exclusive Distributor of QuietRock in Canada

Serious Materials announced it has entered into an agreement with CertainTeed, North America’s leading manufacturer of interior and exterior building products, to be the exclusive distributor of QuietRock® soundproof drywall in Canada. “QuietRock is the industry’s most cost-effective, high performance noise reducing wallboard product”, said Guillaume Texier, General Manager of CertainTeed Gypsum Canada. “Our customers expect us to listen and quickly respond to their needs and QuietRock is yet another market innovation we’ve been able to bring to them.”

“CertainTeed will help expand the customer base for QuietRock in Canada,” said Steve Weiss, vice president of marketing, Serious Materials. “The company’s vast network of dealers, superb sales force and overall excellent market reputation will be a real benefit to builders, developers, architects and contractors.”

QuietRock soundproof drywall provides an easy, reliable way to build walls with great acoustic performance, at the lowest total cost compared to alternatives. The result has been 30,000 successful projects, over 90% market share in the category, and a long list of product and company awards. QuietRock has numerous fire-rated assemblies with UL and ULC approval.

Serious Materials develops and manufactures sustainable green building materials that dramatically reduce the impact of the 'built environment' on the climate. Voted top product at the 2008 Global Gypsum Conference, #1 at Cleantech Forum XII and winner of the first Aspen Institute award for innovation in Corporate Energy Conservation, the company has also been recognized by TIME/CNN, Fortune, Business Week, AlwaysOn, Red Herring and more as one of the most promising green companies. QuietRock soundproof drywall reduces material use, enhances livability, and supports denser, more sustainable urban construction.

27 May 2008 Gypsum and stone extraction goes on around Dachigam National Park (India) despite concerns

Notwithstanding the fragile ecology around Dachigam national park, India, the authorities have time and again failed to stop the leasing of land for gypsum and stone extraction in the area. According to official figures, hundreds of acres of land have been leased to gypsum and stone quarry units without ‘No Objection Certificate (NOC)’ from the Ministry of Environment.

In 2007, MP and animal rights defender Maneka Gandhi, speaking in the Lok Sabha, asked the state department of Geology and Mining to clarify its position about the leasing of land for extraction of gypsum and stone around the Dachigam Park. “Will the Prime Minister be pleased to state that whether the department of Geology and Mining of Jammu and Kashmir has leased out hundreds of acres of land belonging to the (Dachigam) national park for the purpose of gypsum mining without an NOC from the environment ministry. If so, (furnish) details thereof and the steps taken by the government to stop the degradation of this national park,” she told the Parliament.

In response to the question, the wildlife authorities of the state clearly denied the presence of any such gypsum or stone quarry inside the territory park and clarified that the area is 'very much notified and protected.'

“The department of Geology and Mining has not leased out any land belonging to the national park within the notified boundaries,” says a letter (dated 1st September 2007) from Regional Wildlife Warden Kashmir. While submitting the details, the warden of South Kashmir in a letter dated 1st September, 2007 says, “No such type of quarry exists nearby or inside of any protected area following under the jurisdiction of wildlife protection division south.”

In another letter dated 31st August 2007, the wildlife warden central division Kashmir while clarifying the position of his division on the issue says, “In the notified confines of Dachigam National Park under the jurisdiction of this division department of Geology and Mining has not leased out any land for the gypsum mining.”
The letter adds: “The notified confines of the Dachigam National Park under the jurisdiction of this division are well protected and no activity in violation of J&K wildlife protection (Amendment) Act 2002 is allowed.”

Although the wildlife authorities have denied the presence of such quarries within the confines of the Dachigam park, however, the directorate of Geology and Mining in response to an application filed by a local NGO “Coalition of Concerned Citizens (CCC),” seeking details about the number of gypsum, limestone and stone quarries, reveals that such quarries are active in the region and the concerned unit holders have not obtained the NOC from the Ministry of Environment.

“There are five limestone mines working under lease granted by the government. Besides these there are other small stone quarries working in the area against short term quarry permit. The period against which the amount of royalty realized from these mines is required has not been communicated and as such information cannot be conveyed,” says a letter dated 10th October, 2006 from the directorate of Geology and Mining.

The letter adds: “As per the records of this office no NOC has been obtained from wildlife /forest department or any other record of consultation held with wildlife department, before accord of the above lease and no permission has been obtained from the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India for the above leases.”

24 May 2008 In memorium: Gypsum cutter inventor dies after illness

A successful inventor and manufacturer of food-processing equipment, whose creations include a peach-pitter, an onion-slicer and a dustless gypsum cutter, has died. James "Jim" Eston Altman, of Gray, Georgia, US, was 70. He died on Wednesday 21st May 2008 after a long-term illness and was buried Friday 23rd May 2008 at Riverside Cemetery in Macon.

Altman owned Altman Industries in Gray, which manufactured several of his designs. His father, Eston Altman of the former Altman Machine Shop, before his own death was credited with building the first machine to core pimento peppers. That invention made a small fortune for the elder Altman, who had a fourth-grade education, and he used it to completely finance the family business.

Jim Altman, a 1957 graduate of Jones County High School, held eight patents for his designs, which he began to develop after studying mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech.

When he was 36, experts from the Department of Agriculture Research Center in Athens asked Altman and a partner to construct a machine to trim the ends of the water chestnut. The nut-like fruit kernel of a water plant then was considered the greatest source of starch and carbohydrates on a per-acre basis.

Starting in the late 1970s, when the nation's salad bar boom was taking off, Altman developed several popular machines to core and quarter vegetables and fruits.

In 1984, he invented the gypsum cutter primarily for wall manufacturers in the mobile home industry, which faced a serious problem with the large volume of dust created when cutting the boards with a regular saw. Altman's cutter eliminated the need for dust exhaust systems in factories and at dust collection and disposal sites. It was his last big invention.

"If you had to describe him in one word, it would be 'unique.' He was a brilliant mechanical engineer, whose philosophy and outlook on the world was unparalleled," said Janet Goodman of Macon, a longtime friend. Goodman said Altman studied various religious philosophies and believed in reincarnation. He was the kind of person who liked to spark others' intellect."He would sort of pick at people in that agitating, joking sort of way. 'I'm just trying to turn their brain on, just trying to make him think,' he would say," Goodman recalled.

In the later years of his life, Altman suffered from advanced Alzheimer's disease and lived at Gray Nursing Home. He was a member of the Jones County Kiwanis Club and helped form the Jones County Jaycees baseball team. Altman is survived by his former wife of 38 years, Lois M. Altman of Gray; three daughters, April, Allison and Adriane Altman; and a brother, Eddie Altman of Gray.

23 May 2008 Edmonton fire changes fire regulations for wallboard

The Alberta government is tightening fire and building codes as a result of a major fire that destroyed dozens of homes in south Edmonton, Canada, last summer. The beefed-up codes will require fire-resistant gypsum wallboard under vinyl siding instead of the faster-burning oriented strandboard that is usually used. They also call for new multi-family buildings to put in additional sprinklers in balconies, attics and crawl spaces to those already required.

The changes also aim to make new homes with attached garages safer by requiring fire detectors and gypsum wallboard in the garage. The government accepted 18 of 22 recommendations from a study group that included emergency workers, fire departments and members of the Safety Codes Council.

Two suggestions will be studied further and two were outright rejected, including one that would have amended provincial regulations to require municipal planners and developers to consult building and fire officials before approving new subdivisions and major developments.

7 May 2008 Lafarge announces excellent first quarter results

Lafarge, the world's largest cement maker, reported a 48% rise in first-quarter operating profit on the back of the acquisition of Orascom Cement, cost savings and strong prices earnings. Lafarge, which also supplies concrete, gypsum, sand and gravel maintained a positive overall market outlook despite the US economic slowdown and reiterated its guidance for a new increase in 2008 profit.

"The fundamentals of our sector remain sound," Lafarge said in a statement. "There are considerable construction and infrastructure needs in emerging markets."

Current operating profit rose more than expected to Euro512m (US$792.9m) from Euro345m in the first quarter of 2007 on sales up 8% at Euro4.0bn. Net profit slipped to Euro150m as expected, from Euro362m in 2007, due to an unfavorable comparison. Net income was lifted in the first quarter 2007 by the impact of divesting its roofing business and assets in Turkey. Seven analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast sales of Euro3.993bn, an operating profit of Euro450m and a net income of Euro126m.

Buoyant building activity in Central and Eastern Europe, and Asia, and the integration of Egypt's Orascom Cement, which Lafarge acquired for Euro8.8bn in December 2007, were the main drivers of earnings growth, and helped make up for slowing construction trends in the United States and Spain.

Gypsum sales fell 4% to Euro398m, with operating profit down 5% to Euro20m, affected by the slowdown in the US residential construction sector.

7 May 2008 Federal Gypsum rebounds

Federal Gypsum, a Cape Breton (Halifax, Canada) wallboard manufacturer, has added a second shift to its plant after being in dire straits at the start of the year. The new shift, set to start next week, will transform the plant into a 24-hour operation for three days of the week. The company now has 50 employees, up from 32 before the plan was implemented. The move comes after a creditors’ restructuring plan was implemented in February 2008. Federal Gypsum was burdened with liabilities of US$32.2m and had to deal with 99 creditors. The payment plan will see US$14.5m from a variety of government agencies be paid back over a five-year period, and a quarter of all money owed funneled back to the remaining creditors over the same period.

1 May 2008 1st quarter results for Temple-Inland

Temple-Inland Inc has reported a first quarter 2008 net loss of US$13m, or US$0.12 per basic share, compared with first quarter 2007 net income of US$38m, or $0.35 per diluted share, and fourth quarter 2007 net income of US$1.17bn, or US$10.76 per diluted share.

1 May 2008 Phosphate Companies May Pay More To Close Old Gypsum Stacks

Phosphate companies will be paying a higher severance tax for the next 10 years to speed up closure of abandoned gypsum stacks and to restore mined land under an appropriation bill headed for approval this week by the Florida Legislature. The money from the severance tax surcharge, which was negotiated by Sen. J D Alexander, R-Lake Wales, will help speed up the completion of the closure of gypsum stacks in Polk and Manatee counties that were abandoned by their former owner in 2001.

That action forced state officials to hire private companies, including Mosaic, to take over the facilities to protect the environment. Alexander credited Mosaic and other phosphate companies for agreeing to the deal to accelerate the work. ‘I really appreciate their leadership in a tough budget year,’’ he said.

The severance tax is levied based on the tonnage of phosphate rock mined in Florida. The proceeds from the tax are used to pay for reclamation of land mined before 1975, to support the state’s conservation land-buying programme and to return revenue to local governments, including Polk and Manatee, where phosphate is mined.

Under the appropriations bill, the surcharge would begin at US$1 ton from 1 July to 31 December 2009, and be reduced in phases to 16 cents per ton by the time the surcharge expires on 1 July 2018. The last increase in the fee occurred in 2004 to help to pay the estimated US$160m cost of closing gypsum stacks at Mulberry Phosphates in Polk County and Piney Point in Manatee County.

Alexander said the project costs have increased to US$235m, US$188m of which has already been spent and US$47m of which remains to be spent. In addition, the surcharge will pay for US$40m remaining projects to reclaim pre-1975 lands, he said.

29 April 2008 Gypsum walls may bring in radical changes in Indian construction sector

The construction of a pilot dwelling unit, using fibreglass-einforced gypsum load-bearing wall panels from phosphogypsum, is fast progressing at Eloor, close to the headquarters of Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT). FACT has entered into an agreement with Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF), Mumbai, and Australian firm Rapidwall Building Systems Pvt. Ltd. for producing wall panels on a commercial basis.

Rapidwall, RCF and FACT had signed a memorandum of understanding in February 2008 for setting up the wall panel production unit at an estimated cost of US$19.8m. The pilot unit is being set up to instruct the public on the advantages of what the site engineers described as environment-friendly and low-cost technology. The use of the wall panels from phosphogypsum is an answer to the perennial shortage of river sand, quarrying which constitutes one of the most widespread instances of environmental damage. Using gypsum panels also mean that burnt clay bricks too are out of the window.

The new product is capable of bringing about significant changes in the construction sector in the State, said P Dinakar, project consultant. John Kennewell, who is among the experts supervising the construction process, said that buildings using the gypsum panels were also earth-quake resistant. Construction cost could be reduced by 25%. A 1,00 sq ft demonstration for which the structural designs had been approved by the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, would be ready in under 25 days, said M. Dinakar. He said the foundation for a building using gypsum panel could be a conventional one and suited to the soil on which the building was being erected.

A demonstration unit, like the one coming up at Eloor, was set up in Mumbai three years ago. The Australian company will provide the technology and equipment for proposed wall panel unit that would use the large reservoir of phosphogypsum available with FACT. The gypsum panel unit here would have the capacity to produce 700,000 square metres of panels a year.

28 April 2008 Saudi Arabia cuts import tariffs as inflation surges

Saudi Arabia said it is cutting import tariffs on food and building materials, including gypsum, after inflation in the world’s largest oil exporter almost doubled in the six months to February 2008. The Saudi cabinet decided to cut duties on food products such as frozen poultry, dairy goods and vegetable oils to 5% from about 20%, said the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The move is the latest in a string of measures by the government of the largest Arab economy to offset the impact of inflation on its 25m people after price rises touched a 27-year peak of 8.7% in February 2008. Saudi Arabia has said it is committed to pegging its riyal currency to the US$, even though the US currency’s persistent decline through record lows against the Euro is driving up import costs.

“There are rising inflationary pressures and they are trying to do something about it,” said John Sfakianakis, Chief Economist at SABB Bank, HSBC’s Saudi affiliate. “They are signalling, ‘we are not revaluing, we are going to go the other way in dealing with inflation’,” he said.

Since December 2007, Saudi Arabia has ordered three-year cost of living allowances for public sector employees, boosted subsidies on rice, baby milk and other products and introduced welfare payments. According to the decision, levies on building materials such as paints, gypsum, electrical cables and plastic pipes will also be cut to 5%, while duties on wheat products will be eliminated entirely from 25%, said the SPA.

“This comes under the desire of the king to guarantee the prosperity of the people of our homeland and to address their needs in a manner that guarantees good living,” Saleh al-Khelaiwi, head of the Saudi customs authority, was quoted as saying.

The Saudi cabinet explained that the customs agreement will apply to, “180 items ranging from basic foods, necessary building materials and other consumer goods. The cabinet has agreed that the state will shoulder the difference between the duties agreed under the unified customs levy of the Gulf Cooperation Council,” it added. Sfakianakis at SAAB Bank said the measure could cost the government around US$1.1b per year. Most countries in the GCC, which also includes the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, are preparing for monetary union as early as 2010. Inflation is accelerating across the world’s biggest oil-exporting region as their economies surge on a five-fold rise in oil prices in the last six years, which is driving state investment in infrastructure and real estate.

The United Arab Emirates, where inflation hit a 19-year peak of 9.3% in 2006, ordered a country-wide lifting of customs duties on cement and steel to stabilise real estate and construction prices. UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said that a committee was studying the country’s dollar peg, although it would be retained for now.
SPA said the reduction in Saudi tariffs would apply for a three-year period. About 664 products are already exempt from duties, including medicines, some food items and animal feed, SPA said.

27 April 2008 New Lafarge plasterboard plant in Ukraine

Lafarge has invested Euro30m in building a 15Mm2/y plasterboard and 40,000t/y dry-pack mortars factory in Artemivsk, Donetsk region. According to Lafarge Gypsum, it sold about 6Mm2 of gypsum boards in Ukraine in 2005.

27 April 2008 Gypsum fertiliser application

Fertiliser and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) intends to introduce a new fertiliser derived from gypsum as the company works to address its high gypsum inventory. Gypsum has applications as a soil conditioner and as a source of sulphur and calcium. FACT is also working to secure around 35,000t of sulphur through a state-owned company called Small Industries Development Corp, but is having problems with quality certificates.

26 April 2008 Saudi cement company invests in gypsum plant

Tabuk Cement Company of Saudi Arabia has launched construction works on a US$85.3m gypsum plant. The plant will have an annual capacity of 140,000t of gypsum powder and 13.4Mm2 of drywall. When completed, the project will create 112 jobs, of which 21 will be in administration and 91 in production. The new facility is expected to start operation in the second quarter of 2010.

25 April 2008 Imperial's figures suffer in 2007

Imperial Industries, Inc has announced the results of operations for the year and fourth quarter ending on 31 December 2007. Net sales 2007 were US$53.9m compared to US$75.6m in 2006, a decrease of 28.7%. The Imperial’s registered US$9,9m in net sales for the fourth quarter of 2007, compared to US$17,1m for the same period in 2006, a decrease of 41.9%.

S Daniel Ponce, Imperial’s chairman of the board, stated: “The Company’s management has and is taking several responsive steps that management believes will be sufficient to provide the Company with the ability to continue as a going concern and to improve its operating results and financial condition.”

25 April 2008 When blue actually means green

The 2008 Olympics Water Cube looks blue but it’s actually very green. That’s because construction of the celebrated Beijing National Aquatics Center includes cutting-edge energy saving and recyclable building materials to serve the ‘Green Olympics’ concept. A large amount of the paper-backed plasterboard used in the eye-catching design is made of recycled industrial waste - flue gas desulphurised gypsum (FGD) discharged by coal-fired power generation.

The Water Cube’s new recycled cladding material supplier is Beijing New Building Materials PLC, a fully owned subsidiary of China National Building Material Group Corporation (CNBM). CNBM, as the nation’s major building material producer, has experimented with various industrial waste materials to develop new wall cladding materials.

CNBM currently uses coal waste to fire building brick replacing clay brick, and coal powder ash to produce cement. CNMB also utilises de-sulphurised gypsum generated by thermal power plants to produce plasterboard, and to produce mineral wool acoustic board using blast furnace slag. CNBM’s new cladding materials production lines can all utilise and reuse 20Mt of industrial waste annually. It currently manufactures 40Mm2/y of FGD gypsum plasterboard. It is estimated that if the company uses 100Mt of coal ore waste and coal powder ash it can save 6Mt of coal equivalent.

“The building materials industry has great potential for the recycling business and China currently has roughly 1.7bnt of coal waste available to be exploited,” says Yao Yan, the dean of China Building Materials Academy and vice president of CNBM.
In 2007 the building material industry’s energy consumption exceeded the equivalent of 195Mt of coal and accounted for 10% of the energy used by China’s industrial sectors. As a high energy, resource-consuming and heavy pollution industry, energy conservation in the building material industry is crucial for the nation’s overall goal in energy savings and slashing emissions,” says Song Zhiping, chairman of China National Building Material Group. “Upgrading the manufacturing technology is the key,” he added.

24 April 2008 New phosphor gypsum plant in China

Shandong Hongri Acron Chemical Co, Ltd, has signed an agreement with Taishi Gypsum Co, Ltd on the joint establishment of a comprehensive phosphor gypsum utilisation plant. With a total investment of US$1m, the plant is designed to produce 600,000t/y of building-use gypsum, with annual sales income expected to reach US$12.9m.

23 April 2008 Cuba aims to reduce gypsum imports

Cuba will increase imports of ground gypsum used to produce cement, while at the same time try to eliminate imports. Buying this product from abroad makes it twice as expensive, which is why Cuba is investing in the Carlos Diaz Ramos mine in Matanzas province, which specialists believe has large reserves.

In 2007 Cuba consumed more than 103,000t of gypsum and almost 16,000t were imported at a cost of US$500,000. The planned investment includes a mine in Ciego de Avila province, which distributes gypsum to eastern cement plants.

21 April 2008 Lafarge Gypsum appoints new financial director

Lafarge Gypsum has announced the appointment of Cecile Morenas as its new financial director. Prior to joining Lafarge in South Africa, Morenas worked at Lafarge Gypsum in France for 16 years, most recently as senior regional controller for Asia and Northern Europe finance, and before that as divisional deputy international treasurer.

Apart from being responsible for the accounting, IT, treasury and financial controls of the company, Morenas’s mandate will also include assisting management and staff to attain a deeper understanding of the global vision of the group.

“This is especially important following recent expansion of the business unit locally and the commissioning of our new plasterboard plant at Roodekop last year, ” said Morenas. “While we must maximise growth opportunities, we must also ensure that we integrate best global practices into the local business unit.”

19 April 2008 Authorities probe warehouse fire

Authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of a stubborn five-alarm fire that tore through rolls of paper inside a warehouse of a wallboard factory in Clark, on the evening of 18 April 2008. Firefighters from 17 Union County departments responded to the blaze at the US Gypsum plant on Raritan Road, which began at about 8:30pm, authorities said.

"Luckily, there were no injuries," Clark Fire Chief Robert Venturella said this morning. "Everyone was evacuated as soon as we got on scene." The flames were confined to the building, but it was a difficult fire to quell, Venturella said. "The challenge was breaking apart large bales of paper that were on fire," Venturella said. "We used the machinery there, mainly fork lifts and such, to move them around and soak them with water."

Authorities closed a quarter-mile stretch of Raritan Road between Walnut and Central avenues, Police Chief Dennis Connell said. The scene has been cleared, but authorities could not say when the plant would return to operation.

16 April 2008 National Gypsum to close Lorain plant

The National Gypsum Co plant in Lorain, Ohio, will shut down for an nspecified period on 16 June 2008, throwing all 58 of its workers out of a job. The plant at 1901 Henderson Drive makes wallboard. Its business has been hurt by the slump in the housing market amid an economic downturn, officials indicated. National Gypsum now joins the exit of other local building materials firms including Del Lumber and Bradco-Wickes Lumber in Elyria Township and Abbe Road Lumber in Sheffield Lake, also in Ohio.

Nancy Spurlock, communications director at National Gypsum's corporate headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, said the plant's closure would be temporary, but she could not say when the plant might re-open. All 58 workers at the Lorain plant will be laid off 16 June, according to Spurlock. A National Gypsum plant in Tampa, Florida, with 78 workers, is also closing, she said. National Gypsum has 21 wallboard plants across the country, according to the company web site.

''The wallboard industry is down about 30% nationwide due to the housing correction,'' Spurlock said. ''We're closing the Lorain plant temporarily because of business conditions.'' The company will continue to monitor business conditions to determine when the Lorain and Tampa plants could re-open, she said. Outplacement services will be available soon for workers at the Lorain plant, Spurlock said.

Less than two months ago, Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama toured the Lorain plant and held an invitation-only rally there to talk about the economy ahead of Ohio's primary on 4 March 2008. Obama's campaign, when informed of the closing, sent a statement from the senator.

''The Bush administration sat back and watched the housing crisis unfold - and now another reliable Ohio employer has been forced to close its doors. Working people in this country deserve better. They deserve a leader who puts their interests first,'' stated Obama. ''As President, I'll fix NAFTA and insist on a trade policy that boosts American industry instead of undermining it. And I'll make it a national priority to invest in green jobs and retraining programmes. We owe it to the workers of National Gypsum, and to the generation of American workers who will follow them.''

15 April 2008 Laid-off workers back on the job

Workers temporarily laid off in March 2008 by Georgia-Pacific at two gypsum mines in Cape Breton are back on the job. The company blamed a depressed US housing market as it laid off 39 people from a workforce of more than 100 at mines in Melford and Sugarcamp, in Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Canada. The company had indicated that 21 of the layoffs would be temporary, while the remainder were permanent. Georgia-Pacific spokesperson Julie Davis says the workers who were recalled were back on the job in early April.

The Cape Breton mines produce gypsum that is used in the production of different types of wallboard.
US housing projects have plummeted from a high of more than 2m in 2005 to nearly half that in 2007, with this year expected to be no better. Georgia-Pacific has been mining gypsum in Cape Breton since 1962.

5 April 2008 USG to cut 10% of salaried workforce

North America's largest maker of gypsum wallboard, will cut 10% of its salaried positions for the second time in a year as a US housing slump hurts demand.The reduction of 500 workers worldwide will result in US$15-20m in charges, Chicago-based USG said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company began telling employees of the plan on 1 April 2008 and is offering voluntary severance benefits, according to the filing. The company said it will lay off employees if enough don't leave voluntarily.

USG has closed plants and cut jobs to counter shrinking sales and declining prices. The company posted a fourth-quarter loss of US$28 million, or US$0.28 a share.

4 April 2008 British Gypsum joins UK top 500

British Gypsum is one of only eight heavyside construction materials suppliers to make the sixth annual Top 500 list of Business Superbrands, alongside other companies such as Google, British Airways and Pilkington. British Gypsum ranked 325th in its first ever entry in the top 500.

The company was chosen in a four-stage selection process, including review by the Business Superbrands Council and a YouGov survey of 1500 individual business professionals, who judged the brand against a number of key business criteria. Each brand was judged for its association with quality products and services, the reliability and consistency with which it delivers against promises and maintains customer service standards; and the uniqueness and personality of its brand, which differentiates it from competitors in the marketplace.

British Gypsum Marketing Director, Adam Richold believes the companies focus on the customer is what has paid dividends: "At the end of the day, it is all down to the customer experience," he says. "And our ongoing focus on continuously improving customer satisfaction will further reinforce our brand strength going forward."

27 March 2008 CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene constructs plasterboard facility for American Gypsum

CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene has completed the engineering, procurement and construction of a three-building, 715,000ft2 gypsum plasterboard manufacturing facility in Georgetown, South Carolina, for the American Gypsum Company. The completed plant has begun successfully producing finished plasterboard and employs 100 people in the Georgetown area.

Annually this new plant will produce 750Mft2 of plasterboard by using waste products from nearby power plants. Local coal-fired power plants generate a synthetic gypsum by-product as the result of using scrubbing technology to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions (FGD gypsum). By using FGD gypsum in its plasterboard production, American Gypsum converts what otherwise would be waste into a valuable and environmentally friendly building product. Additionally, the gypsum paper that American Gypsum uses is made from 100% recycled paper fibre, creating a finished product from essentially 100% recycled materials.

Kerry Gannaway, a senior vice president with American Gypsum Company, said: “CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene provided excellent engineering design and project management services on this project. They worked very closely with American Gypsum and made sure this project was going to be a complete success.” During the 21 months of construction, CH2M HILL had up to 50 professionals working on the project and overseeing more than 300 onsite construction subcontractors.

This is the first East Coast facility for Dallas-based American Gypsum, a subsidiary of Eagle Materials, Inc. With operations in Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado, the company is expanding east to meet the growing market demand for its product. The new plant will also allow American Gypsum to serve its customers on a national level with an improved nationwide distribution network.

American Gypsum is presently the US’s fifth largest producer of gypsum plasterboard. American Gypsum operates four gypsum plants with five production lines, and annually sells nearly 3bnft2 of plasterboard. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, employee-owned CH2M HILL is considered a global leader in engineering, procurement, construction and operations for government, civil, industrial and energy clients. With more than US$5bn in revenue and 24,000 employees, CH2M HILL is a leading programme management, construction management and design firm, as ranked by Engineering News Record in 2007. The firm’s work is concentrated in the areas of energy, water, transportation, environment, nuclear and industrial facilities.