WESTLAKE
Profits boosted by lower feedstock costs and increased sales volumes / US vinyls business improving / Projects underway to improve future profitability
Higher sales of its vinyls products has boosted quarterly and half-yearly financial results at US vinyls producer, Westlake Chemical (Houston, Texas; www.westlake.com). Compared with the same period last year, second-quarter net profit rose by USD 30.3m to reach USD 145.8m, and by USD 65.9m to USD 269.2m for the six months ended 30 June 2013.
Net sales of USD 939m were up by USD 25m in Q2 2013 compared with a year earlier, and USD 74.4m higher than the previous quarter. According to the company, the increase was largely because of higher sales volumes for PVC, building products and caustic soda, which partially offset a USD 145.1m drop in half-year sales, which were hit by lower feedstock, ethylene and ethylene co-product volumes.
Improved olefins and vinyls integrated margins, primarily due to lower feedstock costs, boosted income from operations from USD 194m in Q1 to USD 235.2m in Q2, and from USD 316.6m for the first half of 2012 to USD 429.3m for the same period this year. Ethane prices declined by 32.4% and 45.4% in the second quarter and first half of 2013, respectively, while propane prices fell by 6.5% and 20.8%, respectively, for the same periods.
Albert Chao, company president and CEO, said: “We are pleased to report record quarterly earnings largely driven by lower-cost natural gas-based ethylene production resulting from North American shale gas and oil production. In addition, our vinyls segment continues to improve as the US economy slowly recovers. We continue to make progress on our integration strategy with the completion of the expansion of one of our ethylene crackers at our Lake Charles, Louisiana site and the acquisition of a specialty PVC pipe business in the first half of 2013. Our planned completion of a new chlor-alkali plant in Geismar, Louisiana in the year's fourth quarter, and the conversion to ethane feedstock and expansion of our ethylene and PVC capacity in Calvert City, Kentucky, in 2014, are expected to further improve the profitability of our vinyls segment.” French engineering contractor Technip (Paris; www.technip.com) won the contract to convert the Calvert City cracker in January – see Plasteurope.com of 31.01.2013.
Net sales of USD 939m were up by USD 25m in Q2 2013 compared with a year earlier, and USD 74.4m higher than the previous quarter. According to the company, the increase was largely because of higher sales volumes for PVC, building products and caustic soda, which partially offset a USD 145.1m drop in half-year sales, which were hit by lower feedstock, ethylene and ethylene co-product volumes.
Improved olefins and vinyls integrated margins, primarily due to lower feedstock costs, boosted income from operations from USD 194m in Q1 to USD 235.2m in Q2, and from USD 316.6m for the first half of 2012 to USD 429.3m for the same period this year. Ethane prices declined by 32.4% and 45.4% in the second quarter and first half of 2013, respectively, while propane prices fell by 6.5% and 20.8%, respectively, for the same periods.
Albert Chao, company president and CEO, said: “We are pleased to report record quarterly earnings largely driven by lower-cost natural gas-based ethylene production resulting from North American shale gas and oil production. In addition, our vinyls segment continues to improve as the US economy slowly recovers. We continue to make progress on our integration strategy with the completion of the expansion of one of our ethylene crackers at our Lake Charles, Louisiana site and the acquisition of a specialty PVC pipe business in the first half of 2013. Our planned completion of a new chlor-alkali plant in Geismar, Louisiana in the year's fourth quarter, and the conversion to ethane feedstock and expansion of our ethylene and PVC capacity in Calvert City, Kentucky, in 2014, are expected to further improve the profitability of our vinyls segment.” French engineering contractor Technip (Paris; www.technip.com) won the contract to convert the Calvert City cracker in January – see Plasteurope.com of 31.01.2013.
13.08.2013 Plasteurope.com [226065-0]
Published on 13.08.2013
German version of this article...