The Chemours Co., Wilmington, announced higher sales and earnings for the third quarter 2017 as its once-troubled titanium business continued to recover.
Chemours CEO Mark Vergnano said: “We continue to benefit from the strength of our high-value portfolio. Our performance in Titanium Technologies reflects our ability to provide high-quality Ti-Pure titanium dioxide to meet our customers’ needs. In Fluoroproducts, we saw another quarter of increased Opteon refrigerant sales and solid demand for our fluoropolymers products. Combined with increased profitability in Chemical Solutions, we delivered substantial year-over-year improvements across all key financial metrics.”
Third quarter net sales were $1.6 billion, a 13 percent increase from $1.4 billion in the prior-year quarter.
Volume growth in all three segments drove a 6 percent increase in revenue while higher prices, primarily for Ti-Pure titanium dioxide, added another 9 percent to revenue. Chemours, which was spun off from DuPont in 2015 closed the Edgemoor Ti-Pure site shortly after the spin-off. The site has been razed with plans calling for a port facility at the site.
Favorable currency patterns in the quarter resulted in a 1 percent revenue increase. These results were offset by a 3 percent decline due to the portfolio effects of divestitures and site closure within Chemical Solutions.
Third quarter net income of $207 million increased 1 percent in comparison to last year’s third quarter, which included a gain of $169 million from the sale of businesses in the Chemical Solutions segment.
In the third quarter, Titanium Technologies segment sales were $799 million, a 28 percent increase compared to the prior-year quarter, driven by higher global average selling prices and demand for Ti-Pure titanium dioxide. Higher Ti-Pure titanium dioxide pricing and volumes were somewhat offset by increased raw material and distribution costs.
Fluoroproducts segment sales in the third quarter were $637 million, an increase of 8 percent versus the prior-year quarter. Further adoption of Opteon refrigerants and increased demand for fluoropolymers drove the volume increase compared to last year’s third quarter.
Higher average prices of base refrigerants were partially offset by moderate contractual decline in automotive pricing for Opteon, while fluoropolymers pricing was flat versus the prior-year quarter.
Chemical Solutions segment sales in the third quarter 2017 were $148 million, a 19 percent decline versus the prior-year quarter, reflecting the impact of portfolio changes in 2016. Strong demand for mining solutions products was offset by a reduction of sales associated with divestitures and site closure in 2016.
