Global: Saint-Gobain has won Top Employers Institute Global Top Employer 2026 certification, marking an 11th consecutive year as a holder of the award. The producer is one of 17 organisations worldwide to achieve the certification in 2026. Certification is based on the Top Employers Institute’s HR Best Practices Survey, comprised of people strategy, work environment, talent acquisition, learning, diversity, equity and inclusion and wellbeing.
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.
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.
