Knauf inaugurates its new plasterboard production site in Fos-sur-Mer (13)

The Knauf Group and its subsidiary Knauf France

Founded in 1932 in Germany, the family business Knauf has transformed over the years into a true family of companies. Present in 90 countries with 42.500 employees, 320 factories and more than 80 quarries, the Knauf Group is today the world leader in plasterboard. In recent decades, Knauf has also established itself as a major player in building insulation and decorative and acoustic ceilings. Its annual turnover in 2023 is over 15,6 billion euros.

As a responsible family player, the Knauf Group relies on 4 major ambitions to pursue its development: being an excellent employer for excellent employees, creating the best value for its customers, acting with future generations in mind and achieving exceptional performance.

The Group therefore aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 50% by 2032, both for its scope 1 (direct emissions) and its scope 2 (indirect emissions linked to energy consumption).

It also sets itself the goal of reducing scope 3 (indirect emissions not linked to manufacturing) by -30% by the same deadline and aims for carbon neutrality by 2045.

In addition, Knauf has imposed a reduction in its water consumption by 2% each year for all its production sites.

Present in France since 1984, Knauf France can now claim to be a major subsidiary of the Group, with nearly 1.000 employees and 13 production units spread throughout the country. With the new factory in Fos-sur-Mer, Knauf is committed to the development of the local economy.

Specialist in interior design and building insulation, Knauf has developed real expertise in materials, including plaster, expanded polystyrene, polyurethane, wood wool and plant and bio-sourced fibres. In new construction as well as renovation, Knauf solutions enable the creation of partitions, linings, wall insulation, ceilings and acoustic walls, removable or non-removable ceilings, external thermal insulation, insulation of floors, floors, flat and sloping roofs or even lightweight backfill.

For Christine Muscat, General Manager of Knauf France: "This new production unit reflects the Knauf Group's strong ambition to continue its investments in France, despite a particularly degraded economic context. 80 million euros have thus been invested in this flagship of local industry with the aim of always better serving our customers, particularly in the South of France, thanks to greater proximity and better responsiveness. Knauf Plâtres Fos-sur-Mer with its 80 employees will eventually produce 30 million m² plasterboard, all Knauf references combined. With this new factory, Knauf also confirms its commitment to future generations, with an industrial tool that integrates all the latest technologies, thus guaranteeing a drastic reduction in water and energy consumption as well as greenhouse gas emissions.

Fos-sur-Mer, a strategic choice

The choice of a location within the industrial port of Fos-sur-Mer (10.000 hectares) meets Knauf's environmental commitment.

Indeed, this complex has the advantage of having a multimodal hub (road, rail, sea and river) which makes it possible to optimize flows and limit the environmental impacts linked to the transport of goods.

The transport of raw materials (300.000 tonnes of gypsum at full production) will be done by ship mainly from the Knauf quarries in Spain.

With this new factory in Fos-sur-Mer, Knauf is also doing everything it can to better serve its customers through greater proximity and better responsiveness, particularly its distributor customers in the South of France. The northern half will continue to be served by its factory in Saint-Soupplets (77).

The new Knauf production unit in Fos-sur-Mer: an ambitious project

Knauf has given itself the means – 80 million euros of investment – ​​to succeed in this ambitious project, despite a particularly poor economic context.

After two and a half years of construction with the laying of the first stone on the 1^er July 2021 and completion on December 8, 2023, Knauf officially started production on March 15.

Located on a plot of land of almost 8 hectares, this new Knauf production unit (20.000 m² of covered surface) is specifically dedicated to the production of plasterboard and will produce all Knauf references, for an annual volume of up to 30 million m².

In terms of jobs, the factory will employ nearly 80 people, with 50 employees already working.

Knauf Fos-sur-Mer: a latest generation industrial tool

Knauf is committed every day to future generations. This new industrial site integrates all the most recent technologies, available on the market or developed by Knauf, to reduce water and energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 15 to 20% compared to previous generation production tools.

In this environmental logic, all production waste induced by the manufacture of plasterboard is prepared and reintroduced into the industrial process, drastically limiting the generation of waste.

The manufacturing process incorporates the recycling of plaster waste from construction sites in the region. The aim is to integrate, as soon as possible, up to 35% recycled material into the boards.

The site is ultimately aiming for dual ISO 9001 (Quality) and 45001 (Safety) certification by 2026. It is already inspected by the inspection of the Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, under its ICPE (Classified Installation for the Protection of the Environment) authorization.

Knauf plasterboard, the step-by-step process

The manufacturing process is divided into 2 main stages. The first consists of grinding and calcining the gypsum to obtain, thanks to controlled process conditions, the plaster. In the second stage, the plaster is mixed with water and other raw materials according to different plasterboard recipes.

The resulting mixture is poured continuously between 2 sheets of cardboard, then cut to length. The plates are then dried and packaged, awaiting delivery to distributors.