Belgium: Etex’s revenue and earnings rose in the first half of 2026 due to higher sales volumes. Its sales revenue grew by 4.9% year-on-year to €2.02bn from €1.93bn in the same period in 2025. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 8.8% to €368m from €338m.

The group reported strong performance in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Southern and Eastern Europe. It said that France and the UK had been ‘challenging.’ The Building Performance division, including wallboard and fibre cement boards, noted that sales fell in Western Europe but rose in Latin America and Asia-Pacific. The Insulation division saw volume growth for both glass mineral wool and extruded polystyrene (XPS) product lines in most regions.

Iraq: Gypsum plants in Najaf governorate have received no fuel oil since May 2026 amidst a shortage due to high seasonal electricity consumption and low gas supplies. Shafaq News has reported that plants remain subject to deductions for their allocations of 60,000l/month. These allocations would allow for 10 days’ gypsum plaster production at a rate of 60t/day of gypsum. The local Najaf oil refinery is currently producing 2800m³/day of fuel oil and supplying 2600m³/day to power stations.

The Iraqi Geological Survey has recorded 142Mt of natural gypsum reserves nationally.

Italy: Assogresso, the association of the Italian plaster industry, has elected Luca Sironi as its president for a two year term until 2028. He succeeds Gaetano Terrasini in the role.

Sironi has been the General Manager of Knauf in Italy since April 2026. He previously worked as the Chief Marketing & Commercial Officer, Western Europe & Israel for Knauf Group from 2024. Earlier in his career he worked for Hilti Group and Emerson. Sironi holds a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the Politecnico di Milano and a master’s in business administration (MBA) from SDA Bocconi.

Brazil: France-based Saint-Gobain plans to build a fourth production line at its Feira de Santana gypsum wallboard plant in Bahia. The producer says that the line will be the largest in South America. It follows the inauguration of the plant’s third line in 2024.