BPB plans fourth Indian plasterboard plant

BPB plans to build a fourth plasterboard plant in Bangalore, India.

Initially the plant will have a capacity of 15 million square metres per year. The plant should be ready by mid-2007. A further three plants will be commissioned by 2010 to meet expected sales volume growth of about 30% per year.

Elsewhere, the group will double capacity in Thailand, with the commissioning of a further 40 million square metres at the Laem Chabang Plant. BPB will also commission a plant of 15 million square metres near Kuala Lumpur in early 2006 to meet groing demand in the Malaysian peninsula and a plant of 30 million square metres at Changzhou will double capacity in China in early 2007.

BPB chief executive Richard Cousins said: "India provides the group with an exciting opportunity for investing in future profitable growth. Our new generation of Asian plants will operate at world class standards, establishing a more efficient regional distribution network."