Gypsum industry news

US: Continental Building Products (CBP) has appointed James 'Jay' Bachmann to the position of president and CEO, effective immediately. Bachmann has served as interim CEO since November 2014 and CFO since January 2014. He will continue to serve as CFO in an interim role, pending the appointment of a permanent CFO.

CBP has also announced the appointment of Dennis Romps to the position of chief accounting officer (CAO). Romps will also continue to serve as senior vice president and corporate controller, positions he has held since January 2014.

Bachmann formerly served as CFO at Lafarge USA and co-chief financial officer of Lafarge North America from November 2012 through December 2013. He also held multiple executive responsibilities at Lafarge since 2002, including senior vice president of finance (Investor Relations) of Lafarge SA from January 2008 through October 2012 and senior vice president and controller of Lafarge North America from November 2005 to June 2006. Prior to Lafarge, he worked at Arthur Anderson from September 1990 to April 2002.

Romps previously served as CBP's CFO from August 2013 to December 2013. He formerly served as co-chief financial officer of Lafarge North America from December 2006 until August 2013, while also holding a variety of vice president positions in finance, IT and supply chain of the gypsum division of Lafarge North America from 2005 until August 2013.

Thailand: Thai Gypsum Products Public Company Limited, which produces gypsum products under the Gyproc name, has launched a new distribution warehouse on Chaiyaphruk Road, Nonthaburi. The warehouse opening is part of its plan to support growth of the business sector before the introduction of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the close of 2015.
The new facility can support import-export operations between consumers and dealers more efficiently. It also benefits from an exceptional strategic location, Chaiyaphruk Road, which stretches from Pak-Kred Nonthaburi to an immediate road connection to central areas of Bangkok or regional destinations.

"Gyproc now has six distribution warehouses; in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Chonburi, Ayutthaya, Suratthani and the newly-launched Samutprakan facility," said Thongchai Kamolpattana, commercial director of Thai Gypsum Products Public Company Limited. "Our latest Chaiyaphruk Road depot is a spacious hub and is located in a great spot strategically. It's an area in which we see opportunities for local product sales growth. It connects with the city easily and offers ready access to a six-lane road to allow cargo to go to different regions as quickly as possible."

Saudi Arabia: Mada Gypsum Co, part if Al Rajhi Building Solutions Group and a Saudi producer of gypsum wallboard and related gypsum products, plans to build a new environmentally-friendly gypsum plant in Saudi Arabia. It will meet the increasing demand for gypsum and modern building materials and systems in the GCC and the Middle East.

The new US$67m investment will provide work for around 200 employees. It will have a production capacity of approximately 30Mm²/yr of gypsum wallboard and related gypsum based products and systems.

"We see promising growth in the building solutions market across the GCC region, driven by the strong fundamentals of the construction industry," said D Khalid S Al-Rajhi, chairman of Al-Rajhi Building Solutions Group. "Setting up this new plant in Saudi Arabia also confirms the strategic importance of Saudi Arabia as a platform to serve markets in Africa and Europe in addition to the GCC. The investment confirms our commitment to maintain leadership in the industry."

"The new plant will be equipped the with latest state-of-the-art manufacturing machines and production technology," said Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Bassam, CEO of Al Rajhi Building Solutions Group. "The plant will have a capacity of 30Mm²/yr and is scheduled to commence operation in the third quarter of 2016. Mada Gypsum Co is also proud of the environmental benefits associated with the new plant: This is a genuinely green project. The gypsum on site will be processed and removed, returning the site to its natural state."

New Zealand: The Commerce Commission has completed its investigation into allegations that Winstone Wallboards Limited, a subsidiary of Fletcher Building, acted anti-competitively to maintain its market position in the manufacture and supply of wallboard. Based on the evidence gathered during the investigation, the Commission does not believe that Winstone has breached the Commerce Act 1986 and it will not be taking any further action.

"We have completed a thorough investigation and there is no evidence to suggest that Winstone has breached the Commerce Act in any of these areas," said Commission Chairman Mark Berry.

The Commission's investigation was centred on three areas: Winstone's alleged exclusive agreements with merchants, the rebates Winstone pays to merchants and Winstone's alleged practice of undercutting other wallboard suppliers on jobs. The initial investigation was completed in April 2014 and followed by additional interviews and further investigation.

France/Switzerland: Saint-Gobain plans to acquire a controlling stake in Sika, a construction chemicals producer. The transaction involves Saint-Gobain's purchase of Schenker Winkler Holding AG, which owns 16.1% of Sika's capital and 52.4% of voting shares, for Euro2.3bn.

After the acquisition, Saint-Gobain will be able to fully-consolidate Sika into its operations, which will have a positive impact on net income in the year after consolidation. Saint-Gobain Group does not intend to make an offer for the remaining shares of Sika.

Sika has 16,000 employees in 84 countries. Its total sales in 2013 amounted to Euro4.3bn. It has experienced an average of 8%/yr growth in 2007-2013. Given the similarity in the activities of Sika and Saint-Gobain, it is expected that the acquisition will generate Euro100m in synergies from the second year of consolidation (2017) and Euro180m by 2019.

The deal requires the permission of the competent antitrust authorities and is expected to be completed no later than the second half of 2015.