Gypsum industry news

India: USG Boral has announced that it will set up a 30Mm²/yr wallboard plant near Chennai at a cost of US$46m. The plant will support USG Boral's commitment in southern India as the company looks for ways to better serve its customers in India.

Plans are underway to break ground in the third quarter of 2017. The plant is expected to be fully operational within 24 months. More than 100 people are expected to be employed once the plant is operating at full capacity.

The new facility will add to USG Boral's India presence, where it currently operates two other facilities, a 9Mm²/yr wallboard and metal plant in Khushkhera, near New Delhi, and a joint compound and putty plant, in the Chennai area.

US: Valerie Gervais has been appointed as the Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Saint-Gobain Corporation, the group's holding company in North America. She will take a position on the group's North American Executive Committee and will report directly to Tom Kinisky, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Saint-Gobain Corporation.

Gervais will be relocating to Saint-Gobain's North American headquarters in Malvern, Pennsylvania from Paris, France where she was responsible for human resources for Saint-Gobain Glass US and human resources for Saint-Gobain ADFORS and Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics within the Innovative Materials Sector globally. In addition to her new position in North America, she will continue to support the global Performance Plastics business, reporting to James Thomson, Vice President of Human Resources for Saint-Gobain's Innovative Materials Sector.

Gervais started working for Saint-Gobain in 2010 as Vice President of Development and Recruitment for Saint-Gobain in North America. Prior to that, Gervais held the positions of Director of Global Talent Management and Director of Leadership & Organizational Development for GlaxoSmithKline. She holds a master's degree in business from the Institute of Management in Rennes, France.

Philippines: Knauf Gypsum Philippines has started building a gypsum wallboard plant in the industrial park at the Calaca Seaport in Batangas. The company is a joint venture between the German companies Knauf Gips and Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), an investment and development group, according to the Philippines News Agency. Murray Read, Knauf's chief executive officer (CEO) for Asia and the Pacific, said that the plant is aimed to meet demand for plasterboard and other gypsum-based building products within the country's growing construction industry.

US: Guillermo Gutierrez has been appointed the Vice President of Investor Relations at International Paper with effect from 1 July 2017. He will report to Glenn Landau, the senior vice president and chief financial officer. He succeeds Jay Royalty, who has been named vice president and general manager, Foodservice.

Gutierrez, aged 45 years, joined International Paper in 1994 and has held roles of increasing responsibility in finance, sales, marketing, supply chain and general management. He currently serves as Regional Managing Director, EMEA Packaging. Gutierrez earned a Bachelors degree in finance from Tulane University in 1994 and an MBA from the University of Miami in 2001. Guillermo and his family will relocate from Madrid, Spain to Memphis, US.

US: Eagle Materials' sales revenue rose by 6% year-on-year to US$1.21bn in its financial year to 31 March 2017 from US$1.14bn in the same period in 2016. The building materials producer completed its acquisition of Cemex's Fairborn cement plant in Ohio with associated assets in February 2017 and this contributed to its cash flow in the period. The group's gypsum wallboard sales volumes rose by 4% to 231m³ from 222m³ despite a fall in volumes in the fourth quarter.