France: Saint-Gobain has appointed Laurence Pernot as its Communications Vice President (VP). She joins the company from Vallourec Group, where she has been the Communications VP since 2013.

Following post-graduate studies in American History and Anthropology at the University of the Sorbonne, Pernot began her career with the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. In 1993, she was appointed Communications VP for the Regional Council of Loire Atlantique, before moving to the industry and joining the Areva Group in 2001. She stayed there until 2013, initially as Communications VP for the Areva La Hague site and then as Communications VP for Areva North America, based in Washington DC, US, and finally as Deputy Communications VP for the Areva Group.

Mexico: Gabriel Pérez Kohler has been appointed as the general manager of Knauf Mexico. Kohler is a graduate of the University of Texas and was previously the general manager at Strategic Media. He holds 18 years of experience in the construction industry in Mexico, including a number of jobs and projects for business growth in the country of Black & Decker, Sherwin Williams and USG amongst other companies.

Finland: Construction materials manufacturer Saint-Gobain has transferred some of the manufacturing of Gyproc Habito wallboard from the UK to Kirkkonummi in Finland. Deliveries from Kirkkonummi started at the beginning of 2017. Habito products are exported from Kirkkonummi to the Baltic and the Nordic countries.

The company has invested Euro1m in Gyproc Habito production at its Kirkkonummi site in 2017. Investments have been made in the laboratory, product development, personnel training and the production line. Virpi Riekkinen, Business Director at Saint-Gobain Finland, expects further investments to be made in 2018. Gyproc Habito accounts for roughly 10% of the production of the Kirkkonummi factory. The company expects to recruit around five new employees for the Kirkkonummi site in 2018.

Colombia/Mexico: Mexican gypsum wallboard producers including USG Mexico and Abasteco Maxima (Abamax) will have to pay anti-dumping duties on imports to Colombia following an investigation by the Committee on Trade Practices. USG Mexico will be required to pay a 25% tariff, Abamax will have to a pay a 7.15% tariff and all other importers will face a 42.86% tariff, according to the Sentido Común website. The government will implement the tariffs over the next two years and will then reassess the situation.