Global Gypsum Newsletter

Issue: GGM74 / 28 April 2026

Headlines


Ireland: Kingspan recorded sales of €9.2bn in 2025, up by 7% year-on-year. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also rose by 7%, to €1.22bn. Regionally, sales grew by 12% in Central and Northern Europe sales, by 7% in the Americas and by 4% in Western and Southern Europe. The group has recorded 12% composite annual sales growth since 2016, even as global non-residential construction output declined by 11% in Europe and by 4.5% globally since 2019.

Kingspan finished 2025 with ‘momentum across several strands of the business’ and ‘healthy’ backlogs generally. It expects a trading profit of €1.05bn in 2026, noting a sluggish start, impacted by ‘tough’ winter conditions but a firm path ahead.


Denmark: Rockwool has published its 2025 Sustainability Spotlight. In the decade up to 2025, the group reduced Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO₂ emissions by 25%, against a target of 50% by 2034. It reduced water intensity by 13% (against a target of 20%), expanded its national recycling service availability across 25 countries (against a target of 30) and reduced its materials-to-landfill by 54% (against a target of 85%). It raised the share of renewables in its energy mix by 19% year-on-year from 2024 levels, against a target of 40% by 2030. Rockwool approved €389m of new investments in decarbonisation, covering upgrades and optimisations, emissions abatement installations, captive renewable power generation and two new power purchase agreements in Poland and Spain.

CEO Jes Munk Hansen said "We now have five factories where electrical melting technology is in operation, and conversion work is underway in several more countries - including at our largest factory in Roermond, the Netherlands, where two main production lines are being electrified."


Ireland: Kingspan built new renewable power infrastructure at multiple sites in 2026 in line with its Planet Passionate decarbonisation strategy. The group commissioned 1115kWp of additional solar power capacity at its Isometall plant in Belgium, a further 412kWp at its Lipsko site in Poland and 795kWp at its East Stroudsburg site in the US. During 2025, it generated 0.22GWh through a hydro-powered turbine installed at its Askeaton insulation plant in Ireland, where it also used 100% bio-LPG fuel. Kingspan concluded new renewable power supply contracts in Estonia and Finland in 2025 to avoid a combined 500t/yr of CO₂ emissions.


Spain: Denmark-based Rockwool will again sponsor the Sustainability Prize at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona, Spain, on 18 - 20 November 2026. The insulation producer called on architects and designers to submit their entries for the prize by the closing date of 15 May 2026.


UK: Kingspan Insulation has launched two wood fibre-based insulation products in the UK. Steico Flex 036 stud/rafter insulation and Steico Universal Dry sarking and sheathing boards join the producer’s BioKor 80% biogenic insulation range. The products consist of PEFC-certified softwood materials. STEICO Flex 036 offers thermal conductivity of 0.036W/mK, while STEICO Universal Dry offers 0.043W/mK.

Kingspan acquired a 51% stake in Germany-based wood-based insulation producer Steico from Schramek in January 2024.

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