The Development History of Paper-faced Gypsum Board

For laypeople, the most apt analogy for paper-faced gypsum board production is making large biscuits. Gypsum is spread in thin layers on an assembly line, paper is glued to both sides, it's cut to size, and then dried in a pan-the biscuit is done. If you want to make biscuits with special flavors, you can add fibers, additives, etc., to the gypsum to create specialized boards that are water-resistant and fire-resistant.

Paper-faced gypsum board was initially used as an interior decoration material, replacing wood panels and brick blocks in Europe and America. It was widely used in the 1970s due to its extremely fast construction speed. However, it lacked a market in China at the time because of different traditional interior decoration habits. The earliest gypsum board appeared in Beijing in the late 1970s. The manufacturer, the Beijing Light Building Materials Company, produced Great Wall brand gypsum board near the present-day Dahongmen Shoe City. When production began, the warehouses were overflowing, and the entire factory was in a frenzy. Under the planned economy's construction system, almost no government-affiliated interior decoration units used it, and design firms were even less familiar with its use.

However, with the opening of the market and the widespread adoption of foreign construction techniques, especially driven by some foreign design companies and high-end hotel renovations, the market began to accept paper-faced gypsum board, and the demand exploded. The factory was revived and transformed into an excellent benchmark enterprise. It also formed a joint venture with Sissell, a professional gypsum board company in Australia, to produce joint venture brand products. The first generation of agents and distributors of paper-faced gypsum board quickly became the first group to get rich.

The core technology of early paper-faced gypsum board was foaming technology. Gypsum board without foaming technology was both wasteful of materials and lacked strength. Excessive foaming also made it easy to break and less strong. The foreign partners in the joint venture controlled the key foaming technology, preventing the Chinese from accessing it. Equipment and formulas were kept strictly confidential. I've seen the documents of these measures; the foreigners really went to great lengths. However, they didn't know that their competitors never played by the rules. Before long, through various channels, companies acquired the same key technology, and the quality of paper-faced gypsum board improved significantly. The Chinese were truly formidable in this area. Ultimately, the foreigners had to withdraw from China due to the high costs. Looking at the payroll at the time, the cost of one foreigner was much higher than the combined cost of all the factory's employees. All the money was going to be made by these foreigners. Unfortunately, the fledgling brand market died young.

Those early gypsum board companies did not enjoy their good fortune for long. It is true that the new generation surpasses the old, and the old generation is swept away on the beach. Beixin Building Materials - "Dragon Brand" gypsum board, which came from behind, survived to this day by relying on innovation and brand as its two magic weapons. It has become more and more mature and stronger in the competition, while those earliest entrepreneurs have either gone bankrupt or been merged and acquired for various reasons, and have long since disappeared and been eliminated by history.

Today, China's gypsum board industry has developed into the world's largest producer, with a market growth rate and scale that astonishes its global counterparts. However, several problems still need to be addressed:

One problem is that outdated application technology will seriously hinder the healthy development of the gypsum board market. Many domestic companies only focus on market price competition and do not plan or invest in the development of market application technology. In recent years, as long as Beixin Building Materials has continuously developed new products and supporting keel, it is a refreshing example. Other companies are more concerned about the benefits during their term of office, while their investment in technology is all talk and no action, or they just make empty promises and do some superficial work, such as changing the face paper and claiming that it has this function or that function. No one cares, which brings a vicious cycle to the industry.

Question 2: The gypsum board market remains rife with substandard products, counterfeit goods are rampant (even major brands are ubiquitous), overproduction leads to price chaos, shoddy workmanship is rampant, national industry standards are weak, and industry management lacks enforcement. Fortunately, the environmental crackdown in 2017 forced those inferior brands out of the market, slightly alleviating the current situation in the gypsum board industry. The start of the US-China trade war in 2018 also significantly impacted the gypsum board industry, with a sluggish construction market and declining sales. This atmosphere permeated the entire country, making the future even more challenging for leading Chinese brands.