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North American demand for gypsum building products, which plummeted with the decline of the housing sector, will rebound with that market through 2013, new market research predicts.
“As the U.S. housing sector recovers, demand for gypsum building products will also rebound from its weak 2008 base,” reports the market research firm Freedonia, in its new industry study, Gypsum Products in North America.
Consumption of gypsum is heavily dependent upon construction activity. Most of the demand is in gypsum board (wallboard), building plasters and cement. The collapse of the U.S. housing market in 2007 and 2008 caused demand for gypsum and gypsum products to decline dramatically, Freedonia reports.
Prospects for gypsum products are less promising in Canada and Mexico, where construction activity is expected to be stagnant through 2013.
Although crude gypsum supplies in North America continue to be dominated by material extracted from gypsum mines, synthetic gypsum has increased its market share in the last decade and will continue to account for a growing part of the demand, although gains will be less rapid.
In the U.S., growth prospects will be best in residential construction markets, while nonresidential markets remain relatively flat. Nonbuilding markets will advance about 2.0 percent annually through 2013. Consumption of gypsum products in industrial and agricultural markets will continue to lag overall growth.
Learn more at www.freedoniagroup.com.
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