Materials firm Chemours Co. has started a strategic review of European assets that include fluroropolymer production.
On a Feb. 18 earnings call, officials said the review would include European assets of its Advanced Performance Materials business unit. That unit has European locations in Mechelen, Belgium and Villers St. Paul, France.
Full-year 2024 sales at Wilmington, Del.-based Chemours were down 5 percent to just under $5.8 billion, but the firm posted an $86 million profit for the year after losing $237 million in 2023.
APM unit sales for 2024 were down 9 percent to $1.33 billion, as adjusted EBITDA plummeted 41 percent to $161 million. Sales at Chemours' Titanium Technologies unit — including plastics additive titanium dioxide — were down 4 percent to $2.57 billion for the year, as adjusted EBITDA improved 8 percent to $312 million.
In a news release, President and CEO Denise Dignam said in the fourth quarter, Chemours "delivered a strong earnings performance, exceeding our adjusted EBITDA expectations across all our businesses."
Dignam was named Chemours interim CEO in late February 2024 and permanent CEO in late March. She replaced Mark Newman, who left the firm over allegations of financial wrongdoing. Newman and two other executives allegedly made attempts to speed up or slow down payments that would affect their financial incentives.
Dignam has been with Chemours since 2015 and has more than 35 years of industry experience overall. Prior to being named interim CEO, she had been president of Chemours TT unit from April 2023 to February 2024, and president of the APM unit from February 2021 to April 2023.
"While 2024 was a year of transition for Chemours, with a refreshed management team and strategy, we have the right pieces in place to move forward," she added. "Our 'Pathway to Thrive' strategy is the key to driving long-term shareholder value."
Company officials said that in the first quarter of 2025, its TT unit "expects a sequential net sales decrease … with volumes expected to remain stable." The unit's adjusted EBITDA for the quarter also is expected to decrease sequentially, partly due to "operational headwinds" related to cold weather downtime at its U.S. sites in January.
Chemours' APM unit also expects lower sequential sales in the first quarter, driven by "continued weakness" in cyclical end markets. The unit's adjusted EBITDA for the quarter is expected to decrease sequentially due to lower net sales, an unfavorable product mix and additional costs resulting from an outage for major plant maintenance that extended into the beginning of 2025.