Gypsum industry news

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.

Peru: Eternit Perú plans to spend around US$8.7m towards security, technology and plant productivity by 2020. Over half of this investment, US$4.4m, will be spent in 2017, according to the El Comercio newspaper. The building materials producer intends to double its gypsum wallboard business by 2020 and it has started a new marketing campaign to support this aim. It has recently won a government tender to build 2600 temporary homes using its wallboard system and it also plans to start exporting products to New Zealand in the short term.

Chile: Knauf has acquired Novochile for an undisclosed amount. The purchase includes a 10Mm²/yr gypsum wallboard plant in La Serana and gypsum mineral reserves. The plant supplies central and northern Chile and it will compliment Knauf's plant in Argentina. It will be the seventh that it operates in Latin America.