Annual Report 2014

Activity report
Cladding & building boards
QQThe ICE Conference & Congress Centre (Cracow, Poland)
was designed by Ingarden & Ewý Architekci. Our Polish Siniat
company delivered 70,000 m² of Nida plasterboards for
acoustic ceilings, balcony and staircase claddings. The centre
officially opened on 16 October 2014. Picture provided by
Ingarden & Ewý Architekci.
Zooming in
on gypsum
Etex ranks among the top 3 on the
European gypsum market and even reaches
pole position in Latin-America. At the end
of 2011, French building materials concern
Lafarge sold its European and South
American gypsum assets to Etex, retaining
a 20% interest.
As a result of this acquisition, Etex’s
gypsum activities expanded tremendously,
geographically speaking. In February 2014,
Etex took over the remaining 20% stake in
Siniat. As a consequence, today Siniat is
completely owned by Etex.
Gypsum in Europe
Siniat is backed up by long-standing
expertise as well as a broad portfolio of
internal and external gypsum applications.
Nonetheless, Siniat’s European sales
volume decreased in 2014. This was mainly
due to a challenging pricing environment
across the globe and a plasterboard
overcapacity in Europe.
We had a tough year in France, where Siniat
is going through a major restructuring. The
French market is still under pressure and a
rationalisation of the equipment proved to
be necessary.
On the other hand, the UK market is clearly
recovering. Meanwhile, our results remain
stable in all other European countries.
Growing presence in the Balkan area
In Romania we made a start with the
building of a new factory for plasterboards.
To serve the Balkans market better than
ever, we are building a new plasterboard
plant in Turceni. This site is strategically
located between the region’s major
capitals, Bucharest (Romania), Sofia
(Bulgaria) and Belgrade (Serbia).
Production is to be expected in the third
quarter of 2015.
The outlook in the short term remains
challenging in Europe. In the mid term we
will be further integrating Siniat into Etex,
bringing commercial synergies to the next
level.
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