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USG Corporation, also known as United States Gypsum Corporation is an American company which manufactures construction materials, most notably drywall and joint compound. The company is the largest distributor of wallboard in the United States and the largest manufacturer of gypsum products in North America. It is also a major consumer of synthetic gypsum, a byproduct of flue-gas desulfurization. Its corporate offices are located at 550 West Adams Street in Chicago, Illinois. To transport gypsum rock from various quarries, the company owns and operates a fleet of oceangoing cargo ships based in Bermuda. Together with other construction products, USG's most significant brands are: : * SHEETROCK Brand gypsum wallboard〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.usg.com/sheetrock-gypsum-panels.html )〕 : * FIBEROCK Brand Panels〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.usg.com/fiberock-abuse-resistant-interior-panels.html )〕 : * SECUROCK Brand Roof Board〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.usg.com/durock-cement-board.html )〕 : * SHEETROCK® Brand TUFF-HIDE™ Primer-Surfacer 〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.usg.com/content/usgcom/en/products-solutions/products/finishes/primers/sheetrock-brand-tuff-hide-primer-surfacer.html )〕 In December 2013, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway became the largest shareholder in the company when it converted USG convertible notes it had acquired in 2008 to common stock. ==History== In the 1890s, gypsum manufacturers perfected a method of strengthening plaster by adding a retarder, which controlled the setting time, thus creating a viable competitor to traditional lime plaster. Because gypsum was plentiful, and available at a relatively low price, and because the manufacturing process was so simple, new firms flooded and fragmented the market, placing constant downward pressure on prices. On December 27, 1901, 30 gypsum and plaster companies merged to form the ''United States Gypsum Company'', resulting in the creation of the first nationwide gypsum company in the United States. The new company combined the operations of 37 mining and calcining plants producing agricultural and construction plaster. In 1909, USG purchased the Sackett Plaster Board Company, inventor of Sackett Board, which was a panel made of multiple layers of plaster and paper. By 1917, a new manufacturing process produced boards with a single layer of plaster and paper that could be joined flush along a wall with a relatively smooth surface. Originally called Adamant Panel Board, the product became known as SHEETROCK. By the 1930s, the company's policy of diffusion of manufacturing facilities, vertical integration and product diversification allowed it to operate profitably every year during the Great Depression. The 1933 Chicago World’s Fair featured buildings made almost entirely out of SHEETROCK panels, which led to the brand's first major advertising campaign. Following the end of World War II, the residential building market boomed with the returning GIs and the emerging tract housing projects such as Levittown. The 1950s and 1960s saw expansion into Mexico and other international markets. Recession and its effect on the bottom line dominated the 1980s and led to a restructuring of the company. On January 1, 1985, USG Corporation was formed as a holding company a reverse merger in which United States Gypsum Company became one of just nine operating subsidiaries. In the mid- to late-1990s, the company invested in a significant expansion of its manufacturing network, adding new high-speed wallboard manufacturing operations in Rainier, OR, Bridgeport, AL, and Aliquippa, PA. Other existing operations were substantially rebuilt or modernized, including the wallboard manufacturing plant in East Chicago, IN. In 2001, the company entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings to resolve legacy asbestos lawsuits. Asbestos was a minor ingredient in some specialty products that the company had stopped selling almost 40 years earlier, in the 1970s. The company's operations remained healthy and profitable while it was in chapter 11. When the bankruptcy was completed in 2006, all creditors were repaid in full and USG shareholders retained equity in the company. In a ''Wall Street Journal'' article dated February 15, 2006, Warren Buffett said, "It's the most successful managerial performance in bankruptcy that I've ever seen." A $3.95 billion trust was created to handle all existing and potential future asbestos lawsuits, thus permanently resolving the asbestos litigation issue. USG managed through the Great Recession, which hit the residential and commercial construction markets in mid-2006, by cutting costs and closing older, less efficient operations. William C. Foote, the company's CEO for almost 20 years, retired in 2010, and 30-year USG veteran James S. Metcalf was elected Chairman, President and CEO. Metcalf implemented the company's "Plan to Win" which involved strengthening its core manufacturing operations and L&W Supply distribution business, diversifying sources of revenues and profitability, and differentiating the company from competitors through innovative products and services. The company returned to profitability in the first quarter of 2013, posting net earnings of $2 million, followed by $26 million in net income in the second quarter of 2013. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USG Corporation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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