Eastern U.S. Hot Spot for $1 Billion Gypsum Wallboard Manufacturing Plant Project Activity

---

Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). U.S. Gypsum wallboard manufacturing plant project activity has picked up significantly in the past year. Industrialinfo.com is now tracking more than $1 billion in gypsum wallboard capital projects, including ten major grassroot gypsum wallboard plants or expansions at existing plants. The majority of these projects are located in the eastern portion of the U.S. and are being designed to utilize synthetic gypsum, a byproduct of flue gas desulfurization scrubber additions at nearby power plants. See related December 14, 2004 news article titled - Gypsum Wallboard Manufacturers Gear Up for Next Round of Expansions as Coal-Fired Power Generators Grapple with Gypsum Disposal Concerns

Major players planning expansions include U.S. Gypsum Company, Lafarge North America, BPB America, National Gypsum Company, and American Gypsum Company.

Lafarge North America, for example, began construction this summer on a $75 million expansion of its Buchanan, New York plant. Lafarge, whose principal market is the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada, produces about 2.2 billion square feet per year of gypsum wallboard from five plants. The Buchanan project should be complete by Summer 2006, but the company isn’t stopping there. A large $100 million expansion of Lafarge’s Silver Grove, Kentucky plant is before the company’s board of directors, who are expected to grant approval by the end of 2005.

Click on the image at right to view a chart show the breakdown of active gypsum wallboard projects by region.

First reported by Industrialinfo.com in 1999, The original $90 million, 900 million square foot per year Silver Grove plant came online in October of 2000. Some of the electrical power requirements for the Silver Grove plant are delivered by a 5.2-MW combined heat and power system operated by Trigen-Cinergy Solutions, which was constructed adjacent the wallboard mill.

Lafarge has been improving operations in Silver Grove for the last two years. Last year, the company constructed a new storage dome and in early 2006, Lafarge will install a new $7 million Imp Mill Calcining System at the Silver Grove plant.

View Plant Profiles - 1035554 1038302 1043184
View Project Reports - 14002865 23001831

Industrial Information Resources (IIR) is a Marketing Information Service company that has been doing business for over 22 years. IIR is respected as a leader in providing comprehensive market intelligence pertaining to the industrial processing, heavy manufacturing, and energy-related industries throughout the world.