Trinseo posts decline in rubber revenue despite record Q2
7 Aug 2015
Share:
Berwyn, Pennsylvania – Materials company Trinseo has posted a decline in its latex and synthetic rubber revenues, despite posting a record second quarter with earnings of $151 million (€138 million).
The company announced on 4 Aug that its latex revenue of $248 million for the quarter decreased 23 percent from the year before due to the pass through of lower raw material costs as well as currency exchange effects.
Adjusted EBITDA of $15 million, said Trinseo, was $12 million below last year’s second quarter primarily due to “indexed price lag impacts” in the current year with increasing raw material costs.
Also, synthetic rubber revenue dropped by 30 percent to $115 million compared to the same period last year, due to the pass through of lower raw material costs as well as currency.
Volume had a 9-percent favourable impact due to higher sales of SSBR, added Trinseo.
Adjusted EBITDA of $18 million was $19 million below last year driven by the planned turnaround as well as currency and some margin reduction.
Trinseo said that the second quarter sales volume rose to 153 million lbs which it said was very strong.
According to Trinseo, the company’s enhanced SSBR, which is used exclusively in high performance tires, had record sales volume for the quarter.
“In the performance materials division, second quarter EBITDA was below the first quarter, as expected,” said Chris Pappas, Trinseo president and chief executive officer.
According to Pappas, the decline was impacted by a planned turnaround at a Trinseo’s synthetic rubber plant as well as a negative price lag with increasing raw material costs.
“However, we feel that the combined first half results for performance materials are indicative of the run-rate that we expect for this division,” he added.
This article is only available to subscribers - subscribe today
Subscribe for unlimited access. A subscription to European Rubber Journal includes:
Every issue of European Rubber Journal (6 issues) including Special Reports & Maps.
Unlimited access to ERJ articles online
Daily email newsletter – the latest news direct to your inbox