Huntsman's first-quarter (Q1) earnings rose sharply year on year on the back of healthy margins despite “tremendous upward pressure” from input costs, said the company.
Sales and earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 43.6%, and net income more than doubled. Huntsman’s four divisions – Polyurethanes, Performance Products, Advanced Materials, and Textile Effects – posted higher sales and earnings, despite a fall in sales at Advanced Materials and Textile Effects.
The Polyurethanes division reported an increase in adjusted EBITDA due to higher methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) margins on higher selling prices and sales. This was partially offset by higher raw material costs and lower earnings from the company’s propylene oxide (PO)/methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) joint venture in China.
"We started 2022 with positive momentum and are focused on further improvements through a deliberate value over volume strategy that includes our pricing initiatives, cost optimisation programs, organic investments and when appropriate bolt-on acquisitions,” said Peter Huntsman, CEO. “We delivered on pricing in the first quarter and expanded our margins despite tremendous upward pressure on our raw material costs.”
Huntsman said: “We are actively monitoring the many economic cross currents throughout the world but where we stand today, we expect continued strong overall results in the second quarter."
As per MRC, Huntsman announced that it has launched a new range of low-emission MDI-based foam systems for automotive interiors. The ACOUSTIFLEX LE and RUBIFLEX® LE polyurethane product lines. These innovative technologies allow global automotive formulators and foam manufacturers to produce high-performance polyurethane foams, while significantly reducing interior emissions levels to meet OEMs’ requirements.
Also, Huntsman is expanding its performance products facility in Petfurdo, Hungary. The multimillion-dollar investment project will expand capacity for polyurethane (PU) catalysts and specialty amines, scheduled for completion in mid-2023.
Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and specialty chemicals with 2020 revenues of approximately USD6 billion. Our chemical products number in the thousands and are sold worldwide to manufacturers serving a broad and diverse range of consumer and industrial end markets.
mrchub.com