Obbligazioni societarie Monitor bond Chimica Europa
- Creatore Discussione lorenzo63
- Data di Inizio
lorenzo63
Age quod Agis
Acuni prezzi ...
Vedendo quanto detto nel post precedente sono andato a vedere qualche prezzo ... PVC + 1,5 cent/lb ... Perossido di Idrogeno, (E' acqua ossigenata..uso catalizzatore per varie reazioni per vernici polimeri etc.) in aumento..dell' etilene si era già detto...
Vedendo quanto detto nel post precedente sono andato a vedere qualche prezzo ... PVC + 1,5 cent/lb ... Perossido di Idrogeno, (E' acqua ossigenata..uso catalizzatore per varie reazioni per vernici polimeri etc.) in aumento..dell' etilene si era già detto...
lorenzo63
Age quod Agis
Rhodia
08 June 2009 12:57 [Source: ICB]
LIKE VIRTUALLY every chemical company worldwide, France-based Rhodia has had to contend with "unprecedented low levels of demand" in the first quarter of the year, as chairman and CEO Jean-Pierre Clamadieu put it in his company’s first-quarter results.
This, together with the need to absorb costly raw material inventories, had a major impact on profitability.
But, he noted, Rhodia was still able to generate positive free cash flow of €73m over the period. The target for the year as a whole will be to generate free cash flow even in the uncertain economic environment. "Cash will be critical in 2009," he told ICIS, speaking in the company’s Paris headquarters.
Clamadieu explained that Rhodia was partly prepared for the sharp demand destruction that hit at the end of 2008. By mid-2008, the company had already sharpened its focus on cash flow management and established 25 cash flow units in the operating businesses and geographic segments.
"We wanted people at the operational level to have full oversight of cash – including capital expenditure, EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortization), working capital, etc.", explained Clamadieu. In the less centralized approach, the teams were expected to put processes in place to improve cash flow measures.
"When we decided in December that free cash flow would be a key priority, it was logical to use these cash flow teams to manage the effort. It has proved very effective." Within weeks, he said, they had adjusted practices and kept cash flow positive for the first quarter. "It’s a good sign that our organization is reacting well in this period."
To respond as quickly as possible, Rhodia moved from quarterly to monthly reviews by the cash-management group. "We were very effective in varying fixed costs to get quick wins," he added. As a result, fixed costs were reduced by €23m for the quarter.
Rhodia also put increased focus on managing the supply chain and making the processes more visible. A lot of attention was placed on reducing inventory and stockholding, and key decisions on supply chain matters, especially raw materials purchasing, were escalated to higher management.
As a result, the ratio of working capital on sales in Q1 2009 was maintained at the same level as in Q1 2008, even though sales were down by 30%. Capital expenditure was also tightly managed, and reduced by around a third for the first quarter.
Varied impact
The difficulties arising from the sharp slowdown in demand did not affect all of Rhodia’s business. Some, such as the Acetow segment and the Eco Services unit, performed strongly, returning increased sales and profits. Energy Services also performed reasonably well, and parts of Novecare remained resilient, such as home and personal care, and agrochemicals. Oilfield and industrial applications, however, were affected by the slowdown.
The main negative impact was felt in Rhodia’s Polyamide business unit, which saw Q1 sales slide by 38% to €286m and EBITDA hit a negative €96m, compared with a positive €52m in Q1 2008. This was brought about by the crisis in the automotive and construction markets worldwide.
In addition, noted Clamadieu, the business had to absorb costly raw-material inventories, which affected the bottom line by €70m. This, however, is now fully accounted for, and should have no further impact going forward, noted Clamadieu.
Polyamide is key
The Polyamide unit accounts for around 38% of Rhodia group sales in normal times. The company is the No. 2 supplier of nylon 6,6, after global fiber group INVISTA.
Clamadieu’s strategy for the business, which serves a range of markets, notably automotive, electrical and electronics and the sportswear and leisure markets, is to maintain full backward integration into raw materials such as adiponitrile (ADN), adipic acid, nylon salt and hexamethylene diamine (HMDA), while also pushing ahead with expansion in engineering thermoplastics (ETPs).
While sales of polyamide ETP grades are affected at the moment, Clamadieu sees good growth potential when the markets recover, especially in automotive, where polyamide is finding increasing use in under-the-hood, internal and external parts, thanks to its higher performance profile.
The overall market was already suffering before Q4 last year, noted Clamadieu, because of a supply and demand imbalance in the global market, thanks largely to the situation in the North American carpet market. "This had already led to a significant collapse in demand earlier in 2008," he said.
Rhodia is restructuring its operations and closing several smaller units. At Belle Etoile in the Rhone-Alpes region, it is cutting 36 jobs in a competitiveness program, and at Valence, also in Rhone-Alpes, it is reducing production of polyamide products for the fiber sector. Some 45 jobs will be lost as production is reduced to a single line. Rhodia also closed its Ceriano, Italy, facility in early 2009, affecting 212 people. These cutbacks are part of a group-wide plan to reduce structural costs by €150m by 2011.
Besides growth through substitution of other materials, Clamadieu expects to expand polyamide sales geographically, notably in Asia and Latin America. The business has 12 production sites and is run with a global supply chain in three main regions – Europe, Latin America and Asia, but has little presence in North America. When the automotive market picks up, he says, Rhodia intends to invest further in Asia to follow the rising demand in the region.
Expansion in Novecare
A second key strategic focus for Rhodia is its Novecare business, which offers high-performance products to a wide range of industries, including cosmetics, detergents, agrochemicals and oil. Despite the uncertainty in the markets around the turn of the year, Rhodia committed to expand this business through the purchase of privately owned McIntyre Group in January.
"It was not the easiest time to make a move, but the company looked a good fit and had a presence in the home and personal care markets – which have continued to be resilient." Integration has gone well, indicated Clamadieu, and the synergies will be better than expected. Volumes are good compared to last year and the acquisition is a success story so far, he stated.
US-based McIntyre is a global supplier of specialty surfactants, with production in the US and UK. It will extend Rhodia’s product range for personal cleansing and hair care as well as home, institutional and industrial cleaning. Additionally, says Rhodia, it will help it to expand its oilfield and agchem offerings and move further into Asia-Pacific and Latin America. 2008 sales were $146m, with EBITDA margin of around 10%.
Clamadieu says Rhodia will continue to look for further mid-sized bolt-on acquisitions but will take a prudent approach over the next few months until it sees signs of a pick up. He believes there will be opportunities as other companies look to adjust and optimize their portfolios. The current difficult trading conditions will speed up the decision-making, he believes.
Outlook
Looking ahead, says Clamadieu, there are signs of slight demand recovery in Asia and Latin America, although not yet in the US or EU. He expects customer destocking in these latter regions to be completed by the end of the half year, so that the second half of 2009 should see some positive movement linked to this. But he is not expected any real pick up in real final demand before the end of the year
08 June 2009 12:57 [Source: ICB]
LIKE VIRTUALLY every chemical company worldwide, France-based Rhodia has had to contend with "unprecedented low levels of demand" in the first quarter of the year, as chairman and CEO Jean-Pierre Clamadieu put it in his company’s first-quarter results.
This, together with the need to absorb costly raw material inventories, had a major impact on profitability.
But, he noted, Rhodia was still able to generate positive free cash flow of €73m over the period. The target for the year as a whole will be to generate free cash flow even in the uncertain economic environment. "Cash will be critical in 2009," he told ICIS, speaking in the company’s Paris headquarters.
Clamadieu explained that Rhodia was partly prepared for the sharp demand destruction that hit at the end of 2008. By mid-2008, the company had already sharpened its focus on cash flow management and established 25 cash flow units in the operating businesses and geographic segments.
"We wanted people at the operational level to have full oversight of cash – including capital expenditure, EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortization), working capital, etc.", explained Clamadieu. In the less centralized approach, the teams were expected to put processes in place to improve cash flow measures.
"When we decided in December that free cash flow would be a key priority, it was logical to use these cash flow teams to manage the effort. It has proved very effective." Within weeks, he said, they had adjusted practices and kept cash flow positive for the first quarter. "It’s a good sign that our organization is reacting well in this period."
To respond as quickly as possible, Rhodia moved from quarterly to monthly reviews by the cash-management group. "We were very effective in varying fixed costs to get quick wins," he added. As a result, fixed costs were reduced by €23m for the quarter.
Rhodia also put increased focus on managing the supply chain and making the processes more visible. A lot of attention was placed on reducing inventory and stockholding, and key decisions on supply chain matters, especially raw materials purchasing, were escalated to higher management.
As a result, the ratio of working capital on sales in Q1 2009 was maintained at the same level as in Q1 2008, even though sales were down by 30%. Capital expenditure was also tightly managed, and reduced by around a third for the first quarter.
Varied impact
The difficulties arising from the sharp slowdown in demand did not affect all of Rhodia’s business. Some, such as the Acetow segment and the Eco Services unit, performed strongly, returning increased sales and profits. Energy Services also performed reasonably well, and parts of Novecare remained resilient, such as home and personal care, and agrochemicals. Oilfield and industrial applications, however, were affected by the slowdown.
The main negative impact was felt in Rhodia’s Polyamide business unit, which saw Q1 sales slide by 38% to €286m and EBITDA hit a negative €96m, compared with a positive €52m in Q1 2008. This was brought about by the crisis in the automotive and construction markets worldwide.
In addition, noted Clamadieu, the business had to absorb costly raw-material inventories, which affected the bottom line by €70m. This, however, is now fully accounted for, and should have no further impact going forward, noted Clamadieu.
Polyamide is key
The Polyamide unit accounts for around 38% of Rhodia group sales in normal times. The company is the No. 2 supplier of nylon 6,6, after global fiber group INVISTA.
Clamadieu’s strategy for the business, which serves a range of markets, notably automotive, electrical and electronics and the sportswear and leisure markets, is to maintain full backward integration into raw materials such as adiponitrile (ADN), adipic acid, nylon salt and hexamethylene diamine (HMDA), while also pushing ahead with expansion in engineering thermoplastics (ETPs).
While sales of polyamide ETP grades are affected at the moment, Clamadieu sees good growth potential when the markets recover, especially in automotive, where polyamide is finding increasing use in under-the-hood, internal and external parts, thanks to its higher performance profile.
The overall market was already suffering before Q4 last year, noted Clamadieu, because of a supply and demand imbalance in the global market, thanks largely to the situation in the North American carpet market. "This had already led to a significant collapse in demand earlier in 2008," he said.
Rhodia is restructuring its operations and closing several smaller units. At Belle Etoile in the Rhone-Alpes region, it is cutting 36 jobs in a competitiveness program, and at Valence, also in Rhone-Alpes, it is reducing production of polyamide products for the fiber sector. Some 45 jobs will be lost as production is reduced to a single line. Rhodia also closed its Ceriano, Italy, facility in early 2009, affecting 212 people. These cutbacks are part of a group-wide plan to reduce structural costs by €150m by 2011.
Besides growth through substitution of other materials, Clamadieu expects to expand polyamide sales geographically, notably in Asia and Latin America. The business has 12 production sites and is run with a global supply chain in three main regions – Europe, Latin America and Asia, but has little presence in North America. When the automotive market picks up, he says, Rhodia intends to invest further in Asia to follow the rising demand in the region.
Expansion in Novecare
A second key strategic focus for Rhodia is its Novecare business, which offers high-performance products to a wide range of industries, including cosmetics, detergents, agrochemicals and oil. Despite the uncertainty in the markets around the turn of the year, Rhodia committed to expand this business through the purchase of privately owned McIntyre Group in January.
"It was not the easiest time to make a move, but the company looked a good fit and had a presence in the home and personal care markets – which have continued to be resilient." Integration has gone well, indicated Clamadieu, and the synergies will be better than expected. Volumes are good compared to last year and the acquisition is a success story so far, he stated.
US-based McIntyre is a global supplier of specialty surfactants, with production in the US and UK. It will extend Rhodia’s product range for personal cleansing and hair care as well as home, institutional and industrial cleaning. Additionally, says Rhodia, it will help it to expand its oilfield and agchem offerings and move further into Asia-Pacific and Latin America. 2008 sales were $146m, with EBITDA margin of around 10%.
Clamadieu says Rhodia will continue to look for further mid-sized bolt-on acquisitions but will take a prudent approach over the next few months until it sees signs of a pick up. He believes there will be opportunities as other companies look to adjust and optimize their portfolios. The current difficult trading conditions will speed up the decision-making, he believes.
Outlook
Looking ahead, says Clamadieu, there are signs of slight demand recovery in Asia and Latin America, although not yet in the US or EU. He expects customer destocking in these latter regions to be completed by the end of the half year, so that the second half of 2009 should see some positive movement linked to this. But he is not expected any real pick up in real final demand before the end of the year
lorenzo63
Age quod Agis
lorenzo63
Age quod Agis
La Seda
......Packaging, Spagnola.. una dei leader del settore.
Penso che sia in corso un bel riordino, al ivello mondiale che parte dalle poliolefine (Saudi ed impinati in Kuwait) che impatta, ovviamente, nel resto del pianeta ed in maggior parte in EU...
Rafael Espanol, the chairman of Spain's La Seda de Barcelona SA (SED.MC), has resigned from his post and will be replaced by Joan Castells, until a new company head is appointed.
In a filing to the Spanish stock market regulator, the company said Tuesday Castells will remain La Seda's vice chairman.
The company also said its board has decided to suspend its shareholders' meeting scheduled for June 29-30.
......Packaging, Spagnola.. una dei leader del settore.
Penso che sia in corso un bel riordino, al ivello mondiale che parte dalle poliolefine (Saudi ed impinati in Kuwait) che impatta, ovviamente, nel resto del pianeta ed in maggior parte in EU...
Rafael Espanol, the chairman of Spain's La Seda de Barcelona SA (SED.MC), has resigned from his post and will be replaced by Joan Castells, until a new company head is appointed.
In a filing to the Spanish stock market regulator, the company said Tuesday Castells will remain La Seda's vice chairman.
The company also said its board has decided to suspend its shareholders' meeting scheduled for June 29-30.
lorenzo63
Age quod Agis
Qulache previsione
LONDON (ICIS news)--World chemicals output is expected to fall by 7.25% this year, with a rise in emerging markets only partially offsetting a decline of more than 11% in Japan, North America and western Europe, forecasting consultancy Oxford Economics said on Tuesday.
Despite some slowing of these rates back into single figures before the end of the decade, the emerging economies will account for over 70% of the growth in world output through to 2020, the consultancy said.
Oxford Economics said that by 2010 total growth should have recovered to 5%, with growth in Japan, Northern America and western Europe at 2.75% and emerging markets at 11%.
In the medium term, Chinese growth was expected to return back to 13%, with India expanding by over 10%.
“Recent figures would suggest the worst of the fall is now over,” said the consultants. “Major emerging markets such as China, India and Taiwan are recovering.”
“With oil prices beginning to drift up again, the incentive to hold chemical stocks is growing. Chemical prices, which had risen by over 16% in the US by quarter three last year and subsequently dropped back, have now started to stabilise again,” they added.
Oxford Economics said the major downside risk to Japan, North America and western Europe remained the drift of investment to the developing regions and the resurgence of the Middle East as a major basic chemical producer.
Investment continues to fall across these countries and projects have been deferred in areas such as the Middle East.
“No imminent recovery is seen in capital spending despite low interest rates,” said the consultants.
LONDON (ICIS news)--World chemicals output is expected to fall by 7.25% this year, with a rise in emerging markets only partially offsetting a decline of more than 11% in Japan, North America and western Europe, forecasting consultancy Oxford Economics said on Tuesday.
Despite some slowing of these rates back into single figures before the end of the decade, the emerging economies will account for over 70% of the growth in world output through to 2020, the consultancy said.
Oxford Economics said that by 2010 total growth should have recovered to 5%, with growth in Japan, Northern America and western Europe at 2.75% and emerging markets at 11%.
In the medium term, Chinese growth was expected to return back to 13%, with India expanding by over 10%.
“Recent figures would suggest the worst of the fall is now over,” said the consultants. “Major emerging markets such as China, India and Taiwan are recovering.”
“With oil prices beginning to drift up again, the incentive to hold chemical stocks is growing. Chemical prices, which had risen by over 16% in the US by quarter three last year and subsequently dropped back, have now started to stabilise again,” they added.
Oxford Economics said the major downside risk to Japan, North America and western Europe remained the drift of investment to the developing regions and the resurgence of the Middle East as a major basic chemical producer.
Investment continues to fall across these countries and projects have been deferred in areas such as the Middle East.
“No imminent recovery is seen in capital spending despite low interest rates,” said the consultants.
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