Industry Profile

With a turnover of over 10 billion EURO, the European gypsum and anhydrite industry operates 160 quarries and some 200 factories (plaster powder plants, plaster block plants and plasterboard plants) and generates employment directly to 28,000 people and indirectly for 85,000 people (plasterers and plasterboard erecters). It is one of the few fully integrated industries within the construction products field. The Gypsum Industry covers the whole life-cycle of the product. Indeed, the companies which extract the mineral “gypsum” also process it and manufacture the value-added products and systems mainly used in construction. Gypsum products are eternally and fully recyclable as they always keep their natural properties during use. Therefore, the gypsum companies strive to effectively recycle the products at the end of their life-cycle (demolition waste).

Thirty years ago, the Gypsum Industry was made up of many SMEs mainly producing building plaster and stucco for local markets. The emergence and growth of the plasterboard and the plasterboard solutions market in the 1980s - requiring high capital investments, equipment, R&D and securing access to natural resources - led to a consolidation process within the European Gypsum industry. We currently have three main operators covering 80% of the gypsum product market. SMEs are very active in Spain in plaster powder manufacturing, with a direct employment of more than 2,300 employees, operating 26 quarries and 33 plants (powder plant, plaster blocks and ceiling tiles). There are also SMEs active in plaster block and plaster powder markets in other European countries.

So, we have global and small operators of European origin and know-how with national markets to serve with local resources and production. As the costs of transporting plasterboard overseas are prohibitive, the production is done in Europe, with each Member State meeting the needs and legal requirements of local customers. We can say that the Gypsum Industry is “here to stay and to grow” boosted by the European Lisbon Strategy policies.