Switzerland: Sika recorded sales of €12.1bn in 2025, down by 5% year-on-year, but up by 1% in local currency terms. The company attributed the currency effect primarily to weakness in the US Dollar. Sales grew by 2% in local currencies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and by 2% in local currencies in the Americas, but fell by 5% in local currencies in Asia and the Pacific. During 2025, Sika launched its Fast Forward production and organisational optimisation programme, expected to cut costs by €162 – 216m/yr by 2028.

CEO Thomas Hasler said "Despite challenging macro-economic conditions, we achieved modest growth in 2025 and further reinforced our market position. Global markets were soft in the fourth quarter of the year, including US commercial construction trends, which were exacerbated by the government shutdown. Additionally, China saw continued market weakness in the residential building sector. However, our enhanced customer solutions allowed us to maintain pricing discipline and gain market share in every region.” Looking ahead to the rest of 2026, Hasler said “While we currently expect global market conditions to remain muted through the first half of 2026, we enter the year with a leaner cost structure and a clear investment roadmap to accelerate innovation and digitalisation."

Azerbaijan: Construction gypsum production rose by 42% year-on-year to 128,300t in the first 11 months of 2025. Despite this, the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan recorded a 3% decline in the total value of the national building materials output in the period, to US$771m. Monthly Azerbaijan Business Monitoring News has reported that construction gypsum stocks ended 2025 at 2300t.

Canada: Researchers at Université Laval have developed an alternative wallboard panel using earth and wood fibres. The study sourced wood fibres from medium-density fibreboard (MDF) supplied by composite panels producer Uniboard. Test boards displayed comparable mechanical and thermal properties to 16mm-thick CertainTeed Type X gypsum wallboard, with increased acoustic insulation capacities. However, their reduced modulus of rupture increases the risk of breakage during handling or installation, while they are over twice as combustible as conventional gypsum wallboard, necessitating a reduction of wood fibre content or the use of fireproofing additives in any future commercial recipe. The boards are suitable for production at existing gypsum wallboard plants.

US: The Port of Long Beach authority has published a final study on a proposal to demolish Gold Bond Building Products’ Long Beach gypsum wallboard plant at the port in Florida. The report concluded that the demolition could have ‘less-than-significant’ impacts on the environment. Construction & Demolition Recycling News has reported that Gold Bond Building Products' lease for the site ended in November 2024. As a result, the company must now return it to a condition ‘equivalent to or better than’ that at the start of its lease. The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners will discuss the outcomes on 12 January 2026.