Trinseo reorganising to add engineered materials segment

Berwyn, Pennsylvania – Trinseo SA is changing its segment reporting structure to provide clarity within its performance plastics segment, the US materials supplier has announced.

Starting in the fourth quarter of 2020, the company’s number of reporting segments will increase from six to seven, Trinseo said in its third quarter report 5 Nov.

Five of the segments – latex binders, synthetic rubber, feedstocks, polystyrene and Americas Styrenics – will be unchanged. 

Performance plastics will be reorganised into two separate reporting segments: engineered materials and base plastics. 

The new engineered materials segment will include compounds and blends products sold into applications such as consumer electronics and medical, as well as thermoplastic elastomer products sold into a variety of applications including footwear and automotive. 

The new base plastics segment will include the results of the remaining product lines, including ABS and polycarbonate as well as compounds and blends for automotive and other applications.

Trinseo said the new structure is aligned with its strategy to invest in product offerings for applications that tend to be less cyclical and offer “significantly higher growth and margin potential.” 

According to Trinseo, in 2019 and thus far in 2020, engineered materials delivered margins that were "more than two times the average of products serving all applications within the performance plastics segment."