Gypsum industry news

Kuwait: Kuwait Gypsum Manufacturing and Trading's profits have risen to US$149,000 in the second quarter of 2016 from US$6660 in the same period in 2015. The company was also able to double its half-year profit to US$329,000 from US$162,000. The rise in profits was attributed to lower administrative and general expenses.

US: James S Metcalf will retire as chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of USG with effect from 31 October 2016. He will be succeeded by Jennifer F Scanlon, executive vice president, president, International and president of L&W Supply Corporation. Scanlon has been appointed as a director of USG immediately and she will serve as executive vice president and CEO-elect until 1 November 2016. As part of the leadership transition, Steven F Leer, lead director, will become non-executive chairman of the board, effective 1 November 2016.

"After more than 35 years with the company and more than a decade in senior leadership roles, including almost six years as president and chief executive officer, I believe that it is the right time for me to move on to the next phase of my professional life and for Jenny to guide USG into its next chapter," said Metcalf. He has served as president and chief executive officer since January 2011 and as chairman since December 2011.

Jennifer Scanlon is also a director on the USG Board of Directors and the chairman of the board of USG Boral Building Products. She leads USG's international joint ventures across Asia, Australasia and the Middle East. Her previous assignments at USG include vice president and chief information officer and head of corporate strategy. Scanlon joined USG in 2003 as the director of supply chain and customer relationship strategy. Prior to USG, Scanlon was a senior vice president for Bricker & Associates, a management consulting firm that specialised in assisting Fortune 500 organisations dramatically increasing profits through operational improvement. She began her career at IBM, serving in various operational and consulting roles.

Scanlon graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1988 with a BA in government and computer applications. She earned an MBA in finance and marketing from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1992. Scanlon serves on the boards of the Chicago Council of Global Affairs and of Shore Community Services. Scanlon is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and the Executives' Club of Chicago.

Steven Leer has been a director of USG since June 2005, and lead director since January 2012. He serves as chair of the Governance Committee and a member of its Compensation and Organisation Committee. Leer retired as chairman of Arch Coal in 2014 after having served in that position since April 2006. He was also the chief executive officer of Arch Coal, Inc. until April 2012. Leer is a director of Norfolk Southern Corporation, Cenovus Energy Inc. and Parsons Corporation. He is a former director of the Greater St Louis Area Boy Scouts of America and the National Association of Manufacturers.

Switzerland: Jan Jenisch, the chief executive of Sika, has said that he will resign if Saint-Gobain wins its bid to takeover the company. He added that he does not see a positive future for the growth of Sika should Saint-Gobain succeed, in comments at a company event reported upon by Reuters. The management of Sika have been fighting a takeover attempt by Saint-Gobain since December 2014.

Argentina: Demetra Minerals, the joint venture partner of Canada's Centurion Minerals, has entered into a purchase agreement for both a primary crushing facility and a secondary crushing unit for its Ana Sofia gypsum-mining project in Santiago del Estero. Once operational the pilot plant will process up to 40,000t/yr of gypsum for agricultural markets.

At present, upgrading and refurbishing of the primary crusher is underway and manufacturing of the secondary crusher is on-schedule. Demetra anticipates the crushers will be transported to the project site in early October 2016. Site preparation, including clearing, compaction and access road is nearing completion and concrete foundations are being installed in preparation for mounting of the crushing facility.

All mining extraction, environmental and export permits are in place to operate the plant and Demetra's fertiliser distributor in Paraguay has reconfirmed an off-take agreement to purchase up to 50,000t/yr of agricultural gypsum material at the current market price.

"We are extremely pleased with the advances our Argentine partner has made in designing and developing a low cost pilot plant operation. This initial plant facility will allow us to fine-tune the material delivery, crushing and processing operations while we complete initial and subsequent resource estimates of the property. Having a sales distribution arrangement in place will allow us to generate revenue offsetting the cost of resource delineation, operational expenses and processing expansion," said Centurion CEO, David Tafel.

The Ana Sofia project comprises two mining concessions of 50 hectares in size within a larger (approximately 500 hectare) exploration permit area. Trenching and test pit sampling work completed by joint venture partner Demetra Minerals in 2014 - 15 and Centurion in 2016 identified multiple, high grade, near surface gypsum layers. Small scale producers located in the vicinity are currently extracting agricultural gypsum and selling to fertiliser distributors and farmers.

US: Louisiana's attorney general Jeff Landry says he has cancelled contracts with attorneys involved in state suits against Chinese gypsum wallboard companies, and is auditing nearly US$7m worth of contracts. Landry said he's auditing the billing and work under five contracts to see what they've done to help Louisiana's case. His office will take over the work, according to Associated Press.

"The state has spent nearly US$7m on outside legal counsel for the Chinese drywall litigation," said Landry. "This use of taxpayers' hard-earned money comes to an end under my watch." He added that payments to the firms ranged from nearly US$5.6m to the Perkins Coie law firm to US$101,700 to the Theriot Group.

Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin and four companies it supplied agreed in 2010 to pay for home repairs relating to damage caused by Chinese gypsum wallboard used mainly in the south of the US. District Judge Eldon Fallon has ruled that Taishan Gypsum must pay damages, and is considering the amount.