September 2013 Additives for Polymers9

MARKETS

2013, down 7.4% from net sales of $684.9 million in the second quarter of the previous year.

The company reports that the decline in quarterly sales was driven by its exit from the phosphorus flame retardants business [ADPO, July 2012], lower metals surcharges, unfavourable pricing in the bromine portfo-lio and lower Fine Chemistry Services volumes, partly offset by favourable volumes in the Refinery Catalysts and Brominated Flame Retardant businesses. Alongside the continued sluggishness across Europe, and weak elec-tronics and construction markets, Albemarle, like BASF (see p. 7), noted that China’s performance was much weaker than most anticipated at the beginning of the year. Despite these negative impacts, the businesses delivered EBITDA margins of 22%, reports CEO Luke Kissam.

Albemarle’s Polymer Solutions segment reported net sales of $224.3 million in the second quarter of 2013, a 9% decrease from net sales in 2Q 2012. The decline was due to the year-over-year effects of the phosphorus flame retardants business exit in 2Q 2012 and overall lower flame retardant pricing, partly offset by favourable flame retardants volumes. Segment income for Polymer Solutions was $43.7 million in 2Q 2013, a 34% decline from $65.7 million in the same quarter of 2012, driven by unfavourable pricing, manufac-turing costs and foreign currency impacts, partly offset by improved sales volumes and favourable impacts from the exit from the phosphorus flame retardants business. A similar pattern was seen for the six months ended 30 June 2013, with net sales down 7.6% year on year to $439 million and segment income falling 26% to $87.5 million.

Contact: Albemarle Corp, Baton Rouge, LA, USA. Tel: +1 225 388 7402,

Web: www.albemarle.com

Cytec’s sales improve but earnings decline in 2Q 2013

New Jersey-based Cytec Industries Inc announced net earnings attributable to

the company for the second quarter of 2013 of US$34.6 M on net sales from continuing opera-tions of $514 M. Earnings from continuing opera-tions were $62.6 million, while discontinued operations posted a loss of $28.0 million.

Compared to the company’s results a year earlier (adjusted for a change in pension accounting in the USA), Cytec’s 2Q

2013 results represented a 15% drop in net earnings attrib-utable to the company from $40.6 million in 2Q 2012, but a 27% increase in net sales from continuing operations from the figure of $404 million the previous year.

In Additive Technologies, sales decreased 2% to $73 mil-lion in 2Q 2013. Sales volumes were also down 2% compared to 2Q 2012, primarily due to a planned rationalization of a low margin product within the speciality additives product line, the company says. Sales of polymer additive products were particularly strong related to demand improvement in the European agricultural film market and general demand improvement for differentiated technologies in North American markets. Changes in the selling prices and the overall impact of exchange rates were essentially flat versus the prior year quarter. Operating earnings of $12.2 million were down versus $14.4 million in the second quarter of 2012, primarily due to increased manufacturing costs. Operating margins in this segment remain strong as the business con-tinuously seeks opportunities to improve profitability.

Looking ahead to the remainder of 2013, Cytec says that it expects demand in the USA to remain stable through the year across most of the end markets served by the Additive Technologies segment, with modest growth in differentiated polymer additive products offsetting flat demand in special-ity additive products. The company continues to estimate sales for the segment in a range of $275 million to $285 million for the full year and operating earnings in a range of $39 million to $41 million.

Contact: Cytec Industries Inc, Woodland Park, NJ, USA.

Tel: +1 973 357 3100, Web: www.cytec.com

MARKETS

Rising demand from plastics boosts global CaCO3 market

The global market for calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is projected to reach 94 million tonnes

by 2018, according to a new study Calcium Carbonate – A Global Strategic Business Report (MCP-2033) published by Global Industry Analysts (GIA). The forecast growth will be driven by rising consumption in the paper and plastic industries and the growing demand for both precipitated