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Chemours Execs Placed on Leave as Company Investigates ‘Material Weaknesses’ in Financials
The chemicals company has also moved its earnings report to an undisclosed date.
Chemours and its shareholders find themselves in a pretty pickle, as three top executives, including CEO Mark Newman, have been placed on administrative leave and the Q4 and full-year earnings report has been delayed. As the news broke on Feb. 29, Chemours shares plunged to a more than three-year low, reports Reuters.
To recap, Chemours’ Board of Directors at the end of last week placed Newman, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Lock, and Vice President, Controller, and Principal Accounting Officer Camela Wisel on administrative leave. The “leave is pending the completion of an internal review . . . [and the evaluation] of one or more potential material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting as of Dec. 31, 2023,” the company said in a press release posted on its website. It also questions “the effectiveness of the ‘tone at the top’ set by certain members of senior management and information and communication.”
The company’s board has appointed Denise Dignam as interim CEO and Matt Abbott as interim chief financial officer (principal financial and accounting officer).
"What we think many perceived as likely a relatively minor accounting hangup two weeks ago now appears wider, longer, and with more ramifications than the market initially believed," Barclays analyst Michael Leithead told Reuters.
On Thursday, shares were trading down 42% at $16.58, Reuters reported. They began to rebound on Friday, recovering a 5.6% piece of the previous day’s selloff, according to Seeking Alpha.
The earnings report, initially scheduled for early February and then moved to Feb. 28, has been further delayed while Chemours gets its house in order. A new date has not been disclosed.
Resin Price Report: PE Price Increase Now Uncertain
By contrast, PP contracts are poised to rise about $0.04/lb, a reflection of this month’s jump in monomer costs.
By PlasticsToday Staff
Commodity resin deals are rocking, the PlasticsExchange reports in its Market Update. As of the week of Feb. 19, completed volumes at the resin clearinghouse have already pushed past January results and surpassed all of February 2023.
Polyethylene (PE) prices mostly rocked steady, with notable firmness in high-density PE, while polypropylene (PP) stepped up another cent in line with rising polymer-grade propylene (PGP) costs. Spot resin availability was mostly snug: Producers have been very disciplined with production and exporting as much as they can. A light flow of Prime and off-grade PE and PP railcars came to market, some at surprisingly favorable prices. Most of them moved. A stream of export requests came from Mexico, South America, and Europe, where the sales arbitrage is open. It is uncertain whether PE producers will implement any of their February increase, writes the PlasticsExchange. Meanwhile, PP contracts are poised to rise about $0.04/lb, a reflection of this month’s jump in monomer costs.
Solid week for high-density PE
PE trading maintained the robust pace seen for the better part of the past five months, with the exception of November. Given the strong global demand for PE amid logistics issues and high freight costs from other regions, export sales were still producers’ preferred outlet for incremental pounds, limiting surplus material from weighing on the domestic market. High-density (HD) PE had a solid week, only to be outdone by linear-low-density PE, while low-density PE was more of an afterthought. Most prime PE grades were flat but firm, though HDPE for Blow Molding rose another cent.
“We have seen a steady rise in spot PE prices this month,” writes the PlasticsExchange, “and indeed our spot prices had to stage a little catch up in February to match the nickel contract increase realized in January.”
PE sellers ease up on proposed nickel increase?
Resellers made available a few prime PE railcars at prices that were slightly softer than early- to mid-month levels. While overall bullish sentiment has kept upward pressure on the market, it has not been enough for producers to secure their entire nickel nominated for February, according to the PlasticsExhange. In fact, it said in its weekly Market Update that it has seen at least one official letter easing the rise to $0.03/lb while seeking an additional $0.03/lb in March. It is uncertain whether any will actually stick this month, said the PlasticsExchange, but some larger processors that might have been sheltered in January will probably absorb that increase this month.
Another force majeure on PP
PP had a strong trading week, spurred by scarce supplies and rising monomer costs. Availability tightened up even more in the back half of the week following Braskem’s force majeure announcement. This is the second producer in two months to have declared a force majeure on PP.
Some good off-grade copolymer PP railcars came to market and were scooped up at ever-rising prices. While prime PP could be found, the margin over monomer has been expanding in the spot market. Prime copolymer PP 20 Melt No Break was the largest mover. Prime PP spot levels lifted a penny by midweek, which held into the weekend. February PP contracts will follow PGP monomer up about $0.04/lb, and producers, who have regained some pricing power, are seeking to expand their production margin by $0.02 to $0.03/lb in March.
After a difficult 2023, producers’ production discipline these past few months, in the face of rising costs, has put them in the position to reap a little reward, writes the PlasticsExchange.
Read the full Market Update, including news about?PGP pricing and energy futures, on the PlasticsExchange website.
LyondellBasel JV Launches Advanced Recycling Facility in Germany
The joint venture with 23 Oaks Investments will convert difficult-to-recycle plastic waste into feedstock for LyondellBasell’s commercial-scale catalytic advanced recycling plant.
Source One Plastics, a joint venture between 23 Oaks Investments and chemicals company LyondellBasell, announced today the successful launch of its plastic waste sorting and recycling facility in Eicklingen, Germany. The new unit processes difficult-to-recycle post-consumer plastic waste such as mixed plastic packaging and flexible polyolefins that would otherwise be incinerated, the company said. The facility has a processing capacity of 70,000 metric tons, which is approximately the amount of plastic waste produced by 1.5 million German citizens annually.
领英推荐
Technology minimizes release of fine plastic dust
The new plant will use an innovative dry processing method to reduce energy consumption by up to 30% compared with conventional plastic recycling technologies. The system is designed to minimize the occurrence of fine plastic dust and its release into the environment and is powered by locally generated renewable energy. The plastic waste processed in Eicklingen will produce feedstock for the first commercial-scale catalytic advanced recycling plant that LyondellBasell plans to build at its Wesseling, Germany, site.
Feedstock will go to LyondellBasell’s hub near Cologne
“We celebrate today the opening of our joint venture Source One Plastics facility with valued partners, employees, and local stakeholders,” said Yvonne van der Laan, LyondellBasell executive vice president in charge of circular and low-carbon technologies. “This marks another important milestone in our strategy to transform recycled material into high-quality polymer. This state-of-the-art advanced sorting facility will turn post-consumer mixed plastic waste into feedstock for our integrated hub in the Cologne area. There, we will use cutting-edge technologies to close the loop of plastic materials and create sustainable solutions for society,” said van der Laan in a prepared statement.
23 Oaks Investments owner Kai Hoyer said the company promotes the sustainable use of plastics by leveraging its global experience and comprehensive knowledge of the circular economy. "We combine this expertise with a strong operational approach. With the Source One Plastics plant, we are today inaugurating another ecologically and economically attractive solution for up-cycling post-consumer plastic waste,” said Hoyer. “With the help of AI technology, our system will detect and sort material composites with product-specific accuracy. We have, thus, laid the foundation for true closed loops, the supreme discipline of the circular economy."
LyondellBasell acquires mechanical recycling capabilities in US
This news follows an announcement last week that LyondellBasell has acquired mechanical recycling assets from PreZero, a global recycling and waste management service provider. The transaction includes leasing a processing facility in Jurupa Valley, CA, which has a production capacity of approximately 50 million pounds per year for recycled materials.
LyondellBasell plans to operate the mechanical recycling plant in California to manufacture post-consumer recycled resins using plastic waste feedstock. It will offer the recycled polymers under its CirculenRecover brand, part of the company's Circulen portfolio of products that enable the circular economy. Operations are expected to begin in 2025.
"This acquisition further strengthens our US presence and will deliver value for our customers and plastic recycling rates on the West Coast," said van der Laan. "We will build upon our existing experience in plastic recycling in Europe and deliver a state-of-the-art mechanical recycling facility to meet the growing demand for recycled products in the US.”
Reporter’s Notebook: Syensqo’s Healthcare Play
The spin-off company from 160-year-old Solvay has grand ambitions for continuing to bring its value proposition to the medical sector.
In December of last year, global chemicals company Solvay announced the successful spin-off of its specialty business to the newly named Syensqo. Since then, the new company has been spreading the word about its portfolio and ambitions at various trade shows. I sat down with Benoit Verdickt, sales director for Life Solutions in the Americas, at Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) West in Anaheim, CA, earlier this month to get a sense of Syensqo’s healthcare play. Here’s what he told me.
What’s old is new again
"Solvay is a 160-year old company — it all started with soda ash — and a few years ago leadership realized that it had several very different “children,” or entities, that required a different business model. It took us two years to split the company. We are now branded as a growth company and everything that comes with it, including investment strategies.
Today, Syensqo is a few businesses. Specialty Polymers is the biggest one, and that’s who you’re speaking with at this show. Within Specialty Polymers, healthcare is an important and strategic market for us, and we play in three main applications: Packaging with specifically high-barrier PVDC used in blister packs; hemodialysis with sulfones for blood filtration; and medical devices, which is a focus here at MD&M West, of course. Our markets include surgical instruments, both single procedure and reusable; implantables; connectors; filtration devices; and many other applications within the medical device market, where we leverage our specialty product portfolio — one of the largest in the industry — including PEEK and sulfones. It’s worth noting that we are the only company in the world producing sulfone-based implantables.
Solvay has been in the healthcare sector for several decades, so our products —?Udel PSU or Radel PPSU, for instance —?are well-known within the industry. As Syensqo, the name of the game is working closely with our customers to solve their materials challenges. We love to work closely with design teams all along the product design cycle."
Building a bridge from PFAS to innovation
"We are heavily invested in the PFAS debate. The PFAS category encompasses a very broad family of substances, including thousands of different chemicals, all with very different profiles and properties. For Syensqo, PFAS is actually a story of innovation.
We are proud of our innovation power, as we developed a new technology enabling us to produce a wide range of specialized fluoropolymers without the use of fluorosurfactants —?the PFAS substances under the most intense spotlight.
We have made a commitment to produce, by 2026, nearly 100% of fluoropolymers without fluorosurfactants. We believe that is a responsible approach and we are investing a significant amount of money to develop and improve our processes to transition to our new non-fluorosurfactant technology."
Plastics versus —?and sometimes with —?metals
"Metal to plastic is a big play for us, but it’s not just about?eliminating?metal. Rather, it’s about getting the best of both worlds. For example, a rod bender for orthopedic applications that we were involved with has some metal components — by overmolding the metal parts with a polymer we significantly reduced the weight of the device.?Texture was also added to the polymer material, which made for easier gripping of the instrument.??
We love to partner with OEMs because some of their design engineers know a lot about metals but not so much about plastics. It’s a different way of thinking when it comes to design, and it’s an area where we can bring our experience and support."
Sustainability is in our DNA
"Last September, we launched our ECHO product range, polymers with bio-based, recycled, and mass-balance-certified raw materials. Amongst them, Radel PPSU mass-balanced offers the same performance as traditional Radel, but through a certified mass-balance approach —?a portion of the fossil-based feedstock is replaced with sustainable alternatives, lowering the carbon footprint of the material."
MORE WEEKLY NEWS
?? BASF CEO to Present Keynote at NPE2024: Michael Heinz will address challenges facing the plastics industry, the importance of collaboration along the value chain, and the future of sustainability.
?? NYCOA Transforms Into Specialty Polyamides Player: Company dedicates polymerization lines for newly launched long-chain nylon products.
?? Bans, Buyers, and Berry: An Eclectic February in Plastics: From myth-busting to bag banning and so much more, PlasticsToday’s monthly top 10 proves once again that variety is the spice of the plastics business.
?? The Spy Who Loved Cars: James Bond Movie Cars Gallery: The International Spy Museum has opened an exhibit dedicated to the various unusual vehicles employed by the fictitious super spy over the decades.
?? Syensqo Expands Bio-based Epoxy Prepreg Portfolio: MTM 49-3 resin contains 30% bio-sourced monomers composite material and responds to sustainability goals in automotive.