Of the four new categories, personal care activities will be included under the Specialties division, which also takes into account food, ceramics and wastewater treatment. The other activities will include Paintings and Coatings, Paper and Polymers.
The Business Units, with their sales and development departments, are based at the company's regional headquarters in Toulouse, France, where the European market is overseen; Denver, US, headquarters for the North American market; and Singapore where Asian activities are headed up.
Jerry Gauntt, formerly VP Business Development and Marketing, has been appointed Vice-President of the new Worldwide Specialties business unit, while worldwide market development for personal care has been entrusted to Jorge Yordan.
Sales to the personal care market will be managed by Jean-Michel Pacallet (Director Specialties BU-Europe) for Europe and Mike Keener for the Americas.
Commenting on the new organisation, Jerry Gauntt said "the new structure will enhance our global offer and improve efficiency".
Luzenac Group is a market-focused talc producer. Each year, Luzenac Group produces, ships and sells in excess of 1.4 million tonnes of talc from over 30 mines and processing plants in Europe, North and Central America and Asia-Pacific, accounting for annual sales of $380 million. It currently claims to be the only talc producer that can meet all end-use requirements worldwide.
Luzenac is a member of the Rio Tinto group and currently supplies 25 per cent of the world's demand for talc.