France: Saint-Gobain’s sales rose by 1.6% on a like-for-like basis to Euro25bn in the first half of 2023. This was driven by the group’s High Performance Solutions division, sales in Asia-Pacific and improved business in North America. Sales grew in all regions apart from Northern Europe. However, in real terms, sales fell by 2% year-on-year from Euro25.5bn in the same period 2022. The group’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 1.5% to Euro3.74bn from Euro3.68bn.

Benoit Bazin, Chief Executive Officer of Saint-Gobain, said that there had been a “moderate slowdown in its markets in the short-term.” He added “Over 60% of our earnings are now generated in North America, Asia and emerging countries, where trends are improving and the growth outlook is supported by demographics and rapid urbanisation. In Western Europe, renovation - our biggest market - continues to show good resilience as expected, with stimulus measures and regulations aimed at accelerating the path to carbon neutrality; structural demand for new construction is growing, even though additional financing costs are temporarily impacting the sector.”

Canada: Gypsum industry veteran Bob Bruce has died at the age of 72.

Bob Bruce worked in the gypsum sector for over 40 years. He obtained a PhD in chemistry from McMaster University in the 1970s and then worked for various gypsum companies, including BPB, in North America and Europe. He later became a consultant in the late 1990s when he founded Innogyps, before setting up NuGyp Corp in 2008. Bob Bruce was well-known as an author, speaker and mentor. He attended and spoke at many Global Gypsum Conferences over the years, and had many contacts and friends around the world. He was the Global Gypsum Personality of the Year in 2007.

Bruce's family will hold a celebration of his life in Toronto, Ontario on 28 July 2023, and have invited donations to the Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation, the CAMH Foundation and the Canadian Cancer Society in lieu of flowers. Online condolences can be made here.

Austria: The European Commission has approved the formation of a joint venture between Saint-Gobain Austria (Rigips), demolition company Porr Umwelttechnik and waste management company Saubermacher. The project plans to build and operate a gypsum recycling plant in Stockerau.

Japan: Chiyoda-Ute plans to mark the packaging of its gypsum wallboard product with a ‘green electricity’ mark when it has been manufactured at a plant using electricity generated from a renewable source. The company first started using electricity supplied from sustainable sources at its Yokkaichi wallboard plant in April 2023. It intends to extend this to its other plants in the near future.