Canada: France-based Saint-Gobain has inaugurated its CertainTeed gypsum wallboard plant in Sainte-Catherine, near Montreal. The unit is fully electrified and powered by hydroelectricity. The company says that the site is the first zero-carbon (scope 1 and 2) wallboard plant in North America and the largest in the world to be fully powered by electricity. The launch of a new production line at the existing plant, along with equipment modernisation, has enabled a 40% increase in production capacity while reducing energy consumption by 30% and CO₂ emissions by approximately 44,000t/yr.

Mark Rayfield, CEO Saint-Gobain North America said “This ambitious project strengthens our leadership position in light construction in Canada and meets the strong local demand for sustainable solutions. It accelerates our growth in the country, where we have tripled in size in three years.”

The upgraded wallboard plant is the group’s second after the one in Fredrikstad, Norway that was inaugurated in 2023.

India: Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers says it has received approval from the Kochi bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for a debt resolution plan for FACT-RCF, a joint-venture that it runs with Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore, according to the Business Standard newspaper. The plan reportedly includes debt restructuring, transfer of assets including a plant to an asset reconstruction company and the possibility of reopening the business through the inclusion of new investors.

FACT-RCF Building Products was set up to manufacture gypsum-based building materials as a by-product using raw material from Rashtriya Chemicals’ plant. However, the joint venture made a loss, defaulted on loans of around US$2.5m and the manufacturing unit was shut down in 2019.

Finland: Knauf Oy is preparing to electrify the calcination process at its Kankaanpää gypsum wallboard plant. An electrified hybrid dryer was installed at the site in 2024. Now, four new 2MW heaters is scheduled to be added in the summer of 2026. The cost of the project will be around €5m. Knauf recently released its new LOWR product line, where boards are dried with an electrified plasterboard dryer using 100% renewable electricity.

Belgium: Etex says that its financial performance over the first half of 2025 showed ‘significant resilience’ in a construction environment still largely depressed and marked by unpredictability. Compared to the first half of 2024, the company posted stable sales volumes, sustained healthy margins and achieved improved operational performance. The results were consistent with Etex’s expectations for the period.

Etex’s revenues for the six month period came to €1.93bn, a 0.2% decline compared to the same period of 2024. On a like-for-like basis, sales increased by 1.5%. The group’s recurring earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation amounted to €353m, a 6.4% fall compared to the first half of 2024. Its net recurring profit fell by 17.8% to €125m. The company said that this was due to the falling REBITDA combined with the impact of currency exchange on net financial charges. However, the company’s net profit for the first half rose to €115m.

Etex said that it was aiming for stable performance across all its businesses versus 2024 despite anticipated market volatility. It will continue to invest in manufacturing facilities, to progress in sustainability efforts, to actively pursue strategic opportunities and to implement the cost reduction programmes launched in 2024.

Bernard Delvaux, CEO of Etex, said “Our first-half results are in line with our forecasts, despite a market recovery that is taking longer than anticipated. While some geographies remain challenging, we are seeing encouraging performance in regions like Latin America and Southern Europe.”

“Compared to the first half of 2024, this year has been more demanding with further declines in demand across some important markets. However, we have made significant efforts to control costs and maintain margins, achieving notable progress in product and operational performance as well as profitability. This translates into stable revenue and sustained healthy margins.”

“As we expect momentum to gradually rebuild in 2026, we continue to prepare for future growth, including with the inauguration of our brand-new plasterboard line in Bristol, UK, in March 2025, €65m of investments in Latin America as well as innovation in our products and solutions.”