Gypsum industry news

France: Saint-Gobain’s sales rose by 4.3% year-on-year to Euro21.7bn in the first half of 2019 from Euro20.8bn in the same period in 2018. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 8.4% to Euro2.42bn from Euro2.23bn. Growth was reported for its gypsum business in all territories apart from North America. Particular growth was noted in its Asia-Pacific region.

France: Saint-Gobain has appointed Maud Thuaudet as Vice-President, Corporate Strategy with effect from 3 September 2019. She succeeds Julie Bonamy, who is appointed chief executive officer (CEO) Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Thuaudet will report to Sreedhar N, Saint-Gobain’s chief financial officer (CFO) and will be a member of the group’s executive committee.

Thuaudet is currently Telecommunications Program Director at Thales Alenia Space, within the Thales Group, where she started her career in 2006. She was Project Manager for Thales International in India, Bid manager, then Business Development Manager for Thales Air System, before being appointed Merger and Acquisitions Manager for Thales Alenia Space. She is a graduate of École Polytechnique and a member of the Corps des Ponts et Chaussées. She also holds an MBA from the INSEAD business school.

UK: British Gypsum has chosen XPO Logistics to optimise its UK supply chain with a single, digitally-managed transportation network. XPO will create an integrated transportation network for British Gypsum using a customised delivery model deployed on its XPO Connect product platform. Distribution will take place from British Gypsum’s five manufacturing plants and four outbases in the UK. Additionally, XPO will manage all downstream processes, including load securing, yard management and weighbridge operations. XPO will also make an investment in new fleet dedicated to the British Gypsum network, using vehicles outfitted with telematics and safety technology.

“XPO has the scale and vision to help us manage our growth, while serving our customers with greater efficiency and a zero-harm safety ethos. We look forward to a long and collaborative partnership in the UK,” said Brian Fisher, distribution manager, British Gypsum.

France: Saint-Gobain’s sales rose by 6% year-on-year to Euro10.4bn in the first quarter of 2019 from Euro9.76bn in the same period in 2018. Sales for most of the group’s divisions rose with the exception of Asia-Pacific. Gypsum business growth was reported in Northern Europe, South Europe – Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific. Like-for-like sale in Asia Pacific were supported by the start-up of a fifth float line in India. Insulation business growth was also noted in France.

Mexico: Saint-Gobain has completed the acquisition of Knauf Mexico for an undisclosed sum. Knauf operates a 26Mm² gypsum wallboard plant at Queretaro that it purchased from PPG in 2017.

France: Saint-Gobain’s Interior Solutions division’s sales revenue grew by 4% year-on-year to Euro7.17bn in 2018 from Euro6.88bn in 2017. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 11% to Euro1.06bn from Euro953m. Overall, the group’s sales and earnings rose in 2018, although at slower rates.

"As expected, our results for the second half show a significant improvement, benefiting from broadly supportive markets, a strong pricing dynamic and the settlement of industrial issues that had weighed on the group's profitability in the first half,” said Pierre-André de Chalendar, chairman and chief executive officer of Saint-Gobain. He added that the group has a program underway to divest sales of over Euro3bn by the end of 2019.

US: Saint-Gobain has appointed Mark Rayfield as chief executive officer (CEO) of Saint-Gobain North America. He will oversee Saint-Gobain’s businesses in the US and Canada and continue to serve as CEO of its CertainTeed subsidiary. He succeeds Tom Kinisky, who now takes on the role of chairman of Saint-Gobain in North America and Chief Innovation Officer globally for the company.

UK: British Gypsum has signed a five-year contract with PD Ports to process its natural gypsum imports. The deal will bring raw materials from Europe into the country via Teesport every two weeks where it will be stored in a new bulk storage unit. The gypsum will then be dispatched by rail to British Gypsum’s plants at Kirkby Thore in Cumbria and Sherburn-In-Elmet in Yorkshire. No value for the deal has been disclosed.

France: Saint-Gobain has appointed Benoit Bazin as its chief operating officer in an organisational and portfolio review process. The ‘Transform & Grow’ program intends to create a new organisational structure with five reporting units to improve growth and allow for a more ‘agile’ group structure.

"Saint-Gobain is evolving in a fast changing market environment, which can be a source of substantial growth opportunities, provided we are sufficiently close to our markets and sufficiently agile. We are launching an ambitious transformation plan, 'Transform and Grow' based on two pillars, an in-depth transformation of the Group's organisational structure and an accelerated portfolio rotation program,” said chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Pierre-André de Chalendar.

The new structure will consist of five reporting units, with four regional businesses and a global High Performance Solutions unit. The new regional groups will be Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Americas and Asia-Pacific. The High Performance Solutions unit will include High-Performance Materials (HPM) and the Sekurit (automotive glass) business.

The program also plans to accelerate the group’s portfolio rotation. It is preparing to divest businesses worth around Euro1bn by the end of 2019. More than 10 companies of various sizes across all sectors are being actively prepared for divestment and three significant processes have already been launched.

Belgium: Gyproc Belgium has installed a new mill to grind natural gypsum at its Kallo wallboard plant. The unit will continue to use flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) gypsum sourced from coal-fired power stations but the company is preparing for future changes in supply, according to the HLN newspaper.