Norfolk, VA - USG Corporation (NYSE: USG) announced today that its United States Gypsum Company subsidiary will invest $132 million to rebuild and modernize its SHEETROCK® Brand Gypsum Panels manufacturing plant in Norfolk, Virginia.
Planning for the 25-month project will commence immediately, with construction starting early in 2005. The modernization project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2006 and could employ up to 140 persons.
The state-of-the-art plant will continue to serve the Mid-Atlantic market, including the key cities of Norfolk, Washington, D.C., and Raleigh, N.C. The modernization will increase the plant’s annual manufacturing capacity by about 180 percent, to 750 million square feet of wallboard. The existing plant, which was built in 1947, has an annual capacity of just 270 million square feet of wallboard.
Including the Norfolk plant modernization, USG has recently earmarked more than $239 million for expanding and updating its manufacturing facilities across the nation to increase production capacity and better serve customers.
“We are making these vital investments to ensure that we can continue to meet our customers’ needs and satisfy their growing demand for our products,” said William C. Foote, chairman, president and CEO of USG Corporation.
The Norfolk plant currently manufactures SHEETROCK Brand Gypsum Panels from natural gypsum rock transported by ship from Nova Scotia, Canada. The modernized facility will be designed to make wallboard from natural gypsum, recaptured (or synthetic) gypsum, or any combination of the two. Recaptured gypsum is a byproduct of several processes, including flue gas desulfurization, which removes sulfur dioxide from the emissions of fossil-fuel-burning power plants and reduces acid rain.
Like the existing Norfolk plant, the rebuilt facility will serve as a model of environmental efficiency on many different levels. Besides incorporating environmental control equipment, it will utilize recycled materials in the production of wallboard. These include recycled paper for the wallboard’s face and back, plus agriculturally renewable resources that are used as binders. In addition, the plant will be equipped with a production recycling system to help reprocess manufacturing waste.
As part of the modernization project, a variety of infrastructure enhancements will also be made at the plant and on the property.
