KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — Rare earth plant Lynas (M) Sdn Bhd today asked Putrajaya why Malaysia continues to import large quantities of gypsum when the material is already being produced by the company here.

It said in a statement today that Department of Statistics’ data showed that last year alone, Malaysia had imported over a million tonnes of gypsum material worth about RM128 million for use in various industries such as for cement, plaster and fertiliser.

"One of Lynas Malaysia’s byproducts is the Neutralisation Underflow Residue (NUF), a magnesium rich synthetic gypsum which is non-radioactive, non-toxic and non-hazardous and is chemically equivalent to the material which is imported into Malaysia.

"Lynas Malaysia has agreed a NUF action plan with the government and regulators which includes commercialisation options,” said the statement signed by its Malaysian managing director and vice-president Datuk Mashal Ahmad and general manager for radiation, safety, regulations and compliance, Prof Ismail Bahari.

They added that Lynas’ research and development has also identified various applications for NUF, claiming that Lynas has been approached by companies in Malaysia regarding commercial use of the NUF material.

"The government has stated its commitment to the circular economy, which includes recycling and utilising local resources. It is therefore timely to ask, why are we importing significant quantities of gypsum material when it is produced locally by Lynas?” Mashal and Ismail asked.

Gypsum is a soft sulphate evaporite mineral which is used as a fertiliser. It is chemically known as calcium sulphate dihydrate.

It is also used in the making of many types of plaster, cement blackboard chalk and wallboards.