Gypsum industry news

US: Continental Building Products says that its Buchanan gypsum wallboard plant in New York state has reopened at full capacity. The unit shut in January 2019 following a ‘significant’ equipment malfunction. Continental's plants in Silver Grove, Kentucky and Palatka, Florida increased their production to offset a portion of Buchanan's lost volumes.

US: Michael Haack has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Eagle Materials. He succeeds Dave Powers, who will retire on 1 July 2019. Powers will remain on the company’s board of directors.

Haack is currently Eagle Material’s president and chief operating officer (COO). He joined Eagle Materials as COO in 2014 from Halliburton Energy Services, where he worked for 17 years. He holds an MBA from Rice University in Texas, as well as Master and Bachelor degrees in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M and Purdue University, respectively.

Powers has worked in the building materials industry for 40 years. He joined Eagle Materials, formerly known as Centex Construction Products, in 2002. In 2005 he was promoted to Executive Vice President for Gypsum. He became president and CEO of Eagle Materials in early 2016.

US: Stacy Kuszmaul, a plant manager at Delavan, Wisconsin and Deirdre Brockwell, staff researcher at Libertyville, Illinois have been recognised by the Manufacturing Institute as part of its annual Science, Technology, Engineering and Production (STEP) Ahead Awards. This marks the fifth consecutive year a USG employee has received this honour for her contributions to the manufacturing industry. The STEP Ahead Awards honour women who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in their careers and represent all levels of the manufacturing industry, from the factory-floor to the executive level.

Kuszmaul, a plant manager with more than 15 years' experience at USG, has been recognised for her operational acumen - particularly on new line startups - and has been a key driver in the company's Performance Materials division. Brockwell, a researcher in USG's ceilings lab, develops early stage concepts and conducts research that helps to expand USG's ceilings portfolio and respond to demands from architects, designers and contractors. She is also a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Green Belt.

The Manufacturing Institute will recognise Kuszmaul, Brockwell and their fellow STEP Ahead award recipients during a reception in April 2019 in Washington, DC.

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.

US: USG’s net sales grew by 4% year-on-year to US$3.34bn in 2018 from US$3.20bn in 2017. Its operating profit fell by 36% to US$227m from US$353m. Sales from its wallboard and surfaces division were stable at US$1.93bn but its operating profit fell by 19% to US$248m. The building materials company said that its operating profit in the fourth quarter was negatively affected due to lower sales caused by the timing of when it announced wallboard price increases. USG’s takeover by Germany’s Knauf is expected to close in early 2019.

US: Germany’s Knauf has appointed Christopher Griffin as the head of USG following the completion of its acquisition. Griffin, currently the chief executive officer (CEO) of Knauf Insulation North America, holds over 35 years of experience in the building materials industry, including 18 years with USG where he served in several senior roles, including chief operating officer.

"Bringing USG and Knauf together offers a compelling value proposition for both USG's and Knauf's customers. Knauf is committed to growing the strength of USG brands and its presence in North America. Our highly complementary businesses, products, and global footprint position the combined company to better meet the needs of customers. Following the closing of the merger, Knauf intends to maintain USG's existing corporate headquarters in Chicago," said Alexander Knauf, General Partner of Knauf.

Other personnel changes of note include the appointment of Joseph W Holmes as the Senior Vice President of the Gypsum Division. Stephanie Holdt, currently Vice President of Controlling at Knauf will join USG as Senior Vice President and chief financial officer.

US: Continental Building Products says that a significant equipment malfunction took place at its Buchanan gypsum wallboard plant in New York state on 24 January 2019. The plant will likely be shut until the end of February 2019 to make repairs. Standard insurance coverage is expected to pay for the maintenance work. No staff injuries occurred during the incident.

"We apologise to our customers for any disruptions caused by these supply constraints," said Jay Bachmann, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Continental building Products.

The company expects to limit new orders for shipments normally delivered from our Buchanan plant during the shutdown. The 60Mm² plant represents about 20% of the company’s wallboard production capacity. Plants in Silver Grove, Kentucky and Palatka, Florida will make up some of the shortfall while the Buchanan plant is being repaired. However the company admitted that due to ‘capacity constraints, logistics and product availability’ the two plants will be unable to make up for all of the lost production.

US: Eagle Materials’ revenue rose slightly to US$1.11bn in the nine months to 31 December 2018. Revenue from its Light Materials business, including gypsum wallboard, grew by 3% to US$479m from US$467m. Gypsum wallboard production dropped slightly to 185Mm2. Operating earnings increased by 13% to US$166m from US$146m.

“Adjusting for the effects of unusual weather trends during 2018 and a shift in the timing of wallboard price increases and related buying activity, we estimate that the overall market demand for our building materials, notably cement and wallboard, remained in positive territory in 2018, with growth rates in the low single digits,” said chief executive officer (CEO) Dave Powers.

US: Jennifer F Scanlon, the chief executive officer (CEO) of USG, plans to leave the company following the completion of its acquisition by Germany’s Knauf. The acquisition is expected to complete in early 2019 subject to regulatory approval and certain closing conditions.

Scanlon has held leadership roles at USG for 16 years. As a senior executive, she was involved in the company establishing the USG Boral Building Products joint venture and the divestiture of L&W Supply Corporation. Scanlon became USG’s president and CEO in November 2016.

“It has been a great privilege to serve as president and CEO of USG, and I am very proud of the work done by the USG team to align our strategy with customer needs and accelerate innovation,” said Scanlon.

In addition to Scanlon’s anticipated departure other members of USG’s executive team are expected to leave the company. These include: Matthew F Hilzinger, Executive Vice President and chief financial officer (CFO); Brian J Cook, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer; Dominic A Dannessa, Executive Vice President and Chief Customer and Innovation Officer; Gregory D Salah, Senior Vice President, USG Corporation and President, Gypsum; and Michelle M Warner, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary.

US: The Gypsum Association (GA) has released the 22nd edition of its GA-600-2018 Fire Resistance and Sound Control Design Manual. Revised on a three-year cycle, GA-600 has been referenced by the model building codes as a source of fire-resistive designs for more than 40 years. The 2018 edition contains more than 140 new systems that supplement existing designs for walls and partitions, floor-ceiling systems, area separation firewalls and other assemblies.

GA-600 is currently referenced by the International Building Code, the National Fire Protection Association Codes (NFPA 703 and NFPA 5000), as well as many state and local jurisdictions in the US and Canada as a source document for fire-resistance and sound-control rated designs that incorporate gypsum board in a variety of building systems.