China: A deadly fire at the Wang Fuk Court high-rise housing complex in Hong Kong reportedly spread ‘rapidly’ through affected buildings. La Verdad Online News has reported that materials in the complex ‘fuelled’ the spreading fire. Alongside bamboo scaffolding, this reportedly including polystyrene insulation, which was blocking ‘some windows.’

The Wang Fuk Court fire has a death toll of 55, with 279 people missing. Approximately 4800 residents occupy 2000 units across eight 31-floor buildings. Police have arrested three construction firm employees on suspicion of manslaughter.

US: TimberHP has begun production of TimberBoard, the first dry-process wood fibre insulation board manufactured and sold in the US. TimberBoard is made from wood waste fibres, mixed with a small amount of binder or held together by the wood’s natural lignin, then pressed into panels. The boards are often used in building envelope insulation, such as roofs and facades, and offer thermal and acoustic insulation benefits.

Germany: A fire destroyed 100 pallets of glass wool outside Knauf Insulation’s Bernburg mineral wool insulation plant in Saxony-Anhalt overnight on 18 – 19 November 2025. The Mitteldeutsche Zeitung newspaper has reported the estimated damages at €30,000.

Romania: Knauf Insulation Romania has officially inaugurated its new €140m, 75,000t/yr Târnăveni glass mineral wool insulation plant in Mureș County. Economedia News has reported that the plant originally entered operation earlier in 2025, but halted operations for two months in mid-2025 due to disruptions to the local water supply. These were the result of flooding in a nearby salt mine.

The Târnăveni plant serves customers in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. A government grant covered €18m of the cost of the plant.

Angella Ganinger, the German ambassador to Romania, praised the plant as the fifth German investment in Romania inaugurated in the four months since the start of July 2025.