Celanese dampens early expectations for Santoprene business 

Dallas, Texas - Celanese does not expect to get off to a flying start with the acquisition of the Santoprene thermoplastic vulcanisates (TPVs) business, due for completion by the yearend.

Senior management at the Dallas-based polymer group foresee a challenging year ahead for the current ExxonMobil business due to its heavy reliance on the automotive market.

Overall, group earnings in 2022 are likely to be "dampened a bit" by continuing supply-chain issues in the automotive industry, said Lori Ryerkerk chairman & CEO, Celanese Corp.

"We're expecting auto builds at the same level we're seeing the auto builds in 2021 and that affects our normal materials into auto," Ryerkerk explained.

"But it also will affect Santoprene because it is 65% into auto," the Celanese leader added in a 22 Oct conference call.

Celanese has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Santoprene business of ExxonMobil Corp. for $1.15 billion (€970 million).

The deal covers a TPV portfolio, including Santoprene, Dytron, and Geolast trademarks and intellectual property as well as production and commercial assets, Celanese announced 30 June.

The 350-employee business operates two production facilities – in Pensacola, Florida, and Newport, Wales, UK – with over 190 kilotonnes per annum of total annual production capacity.

At the time of the deal, Ryerkerk said he expected the acquisition to expand Celanese’s portfolio of engineered solutions and “substantially strengthen” the company's existing elastomers portfolio. 

In particular, Celanese expects the purchase to bring a wider range of functionalised solutions into targeted growth areas such as future mobility, medical, and sustainability.