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.

Australia: Boral has warned that its USG Boral joint venture has suffered from market decline and competition in South Korea. It operations in the country were also negatively affected by Typhoon Soulik in August 2018. However, the company reported ‘strong’ results in Australia. Overall, Boral expects that USG Boral will contribute less earnings to the company in the first half of its financial year to the end of 2018.

Oman: Gypsum exports from Oman rose by 28% year-on-year to 9.47Mt in 2018 from 7.4Mt in 2017. Major destinations of gypsum included Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Japan and Indonesia. The country’s gypsum producers exported 3Mt to Vietnam, 2.9Mt to India and 1.25Mt to Bangladesh in 2018.

Germany: Haver & Boecker is focusing on its Adams packaging product line for the Powtech trade fair taking place in early April 2019 in Nuremberg. The company says that the system offers the clean packaging of powdery, bulk products into watertight polyethylene (PE) packaging. The closed packaging protects products from loss and secures the quality against environmental impacts.

"Manufacturers are producing and packaging where the raw materials are located, which often means in countries with special climatic conditions. The packaged products are also exposed to extreme environmental conditions during global transport. This is precisely why the packaging has to withstand these conditions and absolutely protect the product," said Robert Brüggemann, Business Unit Head at Haver Chemicals.

Haver & Boecker’s Machinery Division is exhibiting at Powtech with a sustainability and resource conservation focus along with the motto ‘perfect Flow for our blue planet."