14 May 2008
Dubai: The UAE will become an exporter of gypsum board next year when three factories producing this key building material are fully functional.
At present the country imports the entire quantity of gypsum board, used mostly in interior drywalls, it requires for the booming construction industry.
Gypsemna, a Dh300-million plant being built in Abu Dhabi Industrial City, will be the first gypsum board factory to open this year. It will have an annual capacity of 50 million square metres of plasterboard, more than the UAE's total yearly consumption.
"Production will start by November. We will supply to the local market and also to other countries," managing director Jamal Al Ghurair told Gulf News on the sidelines of the Global Gypsum Conference in Dubai on Monday.
Al Ghurair said there is strong demand for gypsum board in the Gulf, which is witnessing feverish construction activity.
"We will be exporting to Qatar, Oman and also to Southeast Asian countries," he said, adding that raw material will be sourced from countries such as Iran, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
According to industry estimates, the UAE's demand for gypsum board is growing 20 per cent per year.
Jamal Al Ghurair Group, which operates Al Khaleej Sugar, the region's largest sugar refinery, is also setting up a plant to make porcelain tiles in the company's foray into the building materials sector.
Located next to Gypsemna in the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi in Musaffah, Porcellan will have a capacity of 18 million square metres of tiles per year.
Abu Dhabi's another gypsum board factory is being built by British plasterboard supplier BPB.
Another large capacity gypsum board plant will be operated by German building materials firm Knauf in Ras Al Khaimah.
Michael Morgan, Knauf's managing director in the UAE, said construction is under way on the Dh500-million plant. Production will start in the middle of 2009 and the factory's capacity will be 40 million square metres per year.
By Shakir Husain
Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.
