Materials maker Chemours Co. posted higher sales but lower profit for full-year 2022.
Wilmington, Del-based Chemours saw sales for the year grow 7 percent vs. 2021 to $6.8 billion, as profit dipped almost 5 percent to $578 million. Plastics-related products made by Chemours include fluoropolymers, fluoroelastomers and titanium dioxide, a common plastics whitener.
"We delivered growth … in 2022 despite a challenging fourth quarter during which we faced higher raw material costs and demand weakness in Europe and Asia, leading to lower operating rates," President and CEO Mark Newman said in a news release.
Chemours' Titanium Technologies unit, including TiO2, saw sales tick up almost 1 percent to just under $3.4 billion, even as the unit's adjusted EBITDA dropped almost 25 percent to $601 million. Officials said that demand for the unit's products started to weaken in the third quarter, particularly in Europe and Asia Pacific, and weakened further in the fourth quarter.
Sales at Chemours' Advanced Performance Materials unit, including fluoropolymers, were up 16 percent to $1.6 billion, with adjusted EBITDA jumping 29 percent to $367 million. Officials said that global average selling prices for the unit's products increased in 2022 because of higher sales in high-value end markets, including advanced electronics, and clean energy.
Looking ahead to 2023, Newman said that Chemours' outlook "contemplates a weaker start to 2023, with conditions improving in the second half of the year." Chemours employs about 6,600 globally and operates 29 manufacturing sites. The firm has almost 2,900 customers in approximately 120 countries.
On Wall Street, Chemours' per-share stock price began 2023 at $30.60 but was at $35.10 in late trading Feb. 13, an increase of almost 15 percent.