Siempelkamp completes acceptance of production line for Taishan Gypsum in China

The final acceptance of the new gypsum fiberboard production line supplied by Siempelkamp to Taishan Gypsum, one of China’s major manufacturers of building materials, was completed on September 4. The plant is the result of a joint project formally launched in January 2025, aimed at developing large-scale production capacity in a segment where access to advanced industrial technologies remains an important factor.

Construction began in August 2025 and, according to the companies, equipment installation and the start of trial production were completed within six months. The subsequent commissioning and process optimization phase led to the plant’s final acceptance seven months later.

The total investment amounts to RMB 530 million, with a nominal production capacity of 20 million square meters of panels per year. The line uses Siempelkamp’s “ContiRoll” continuous wet-pressing technology, combined with drying systems and automated management of the various production stages, from raw material mixing to forming and quality control.

One aspect of the project concerns the materials used. The panels are manufactured using gypsum obtained from flue gas desulfurization (FGD) processes at power plants, combined with recycled plant fibers that act as reinforcement. Raw materials also include recovered cardboard and pulp residues from paper mills, which are processed into fibers and incorporated into the panels.

According to figures provided by Taishan Gypsum, once fully operational, the plant will be able to process more than 300,000 metric tons of industrial solid waste annually, with an estimated reduction in CO₂ emissions of approximately 16,000 metric tons per year. The panels are also reported to comply with local ENF environmental standards and fire reaction class A1.

The project could represent only the first phase of a broader investment program. Taishan Gypsum plans to build nine additional production lines in China during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, with the aim of reaching a total production capacity of 200 million square meters per year.

For Siempelkamp, the project represents another application of its continuous pressing technologies beyond the traditional wood-based panel industry, in a sector that shares several characteristics in terms of industrial processes, automation and the use of recycled raw materials.