Knauf opens cement board plant in Chile and eyes further investments

German building materials supplier Knauf opened a new cement board plant in the Puente Alto district of Chile’s Santiago metropolitan region.

The plant will supply Latin American countries with the firm’s Aquapanel boards, and Knauf is eyeing further investments in the country.

The new plant required investment of 15mn euros (about US$17mn) and has production capacity of 7mn square meters of cement boards that, on top of serving the Chilean market, will be shipped to Panama, Honduras, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and Peru, Knauf said in a press release. 

Knauf is also planning to build a US$55mn plaster plant on the same site in Puente Alto.

Evaluation of that project was halted by environmental review agency SEA last October, citing “lack of essential information,” but the company plans to resubmit the document during the second half of this year, Knauf Chile’s manager Roberto Rojas told BNamericas. 

He highlighted that Chile now houses Knauf’s only Aquapanel plant outside of Europe, and that this technology, which entails a cement board highly resistant to humidity and harsh weather conditions and known for its insulating capabilities, will help to reduce energy costs, as in some buildings up to 40% of energy is used for heating.

“Drywall construction will bring important trend changes regarding what we know about construction, mainly thinking about housing energy efficiency,” said Rojas.

The construction sector has been hit by cost increases in recent years, especially for energy, and Rojas adds that stimulus measures during the pandemic actually covered up the problem.

“The amount of money that circulated, be it from pension fund withdrawals or state contributions, created a large demand for construction materials. But behind that there was a decrease in activity such as in the construction of new housing units,” he said.

Rojas said he hopes that the market will stabilize once inflation eases and interest rates fall.

“The end of the constitutional [rewrite] process could generate some stability, which could provide more comfort to markets and investors,” he said.

Knauf has participated in several hospital projects in Chile, such the Antofagasta, Curicó, Quillota-Petorca, Linares and Marga Marga new hospitals, and Rojas added that the firm is looking to participate in other similar projects.

“Knauf solutions fit right in with all projects that have high standard requirements,” he said.