Chemical and advanced materials maker, Celanese Corporation CE has announced that it will raise the list and off-list selling prices of acetic acid in China. This price increase is in response to the rapid rise and sustained volatility in methanol prices in China.
Celanese will hike the price of acetic acid by RMB 100 per metric ton in China. The rise in price will be effective immediately, or as contracts permit. Celanese has been raising the prices of some of its chemicals lately.
Recently, the company announced a hike in the price of acetic acid and acetic anhydride by €40 per metric ton in Europe. The company will also increase the price of vinyl acetate monomer by 3 cents per pound in the U.S., Canada and Mexico; by $70 per metric ton in Central and South America; and $40 per metric ton in Asia outside China. These price increases are slated to be effective Jul 1, 2015, or as contracts permit.
Celanese remains focused on reducing costs and running its plants more efficiently amid an uncertain operating backdrop. Its strong presence in emerging markets should support earnings this year.
Per management, Celanese started off 2015 with significant headwinds such as a fluctuating macroeconomic environment and volatile currency markets at the macro level, along with methanol transition and tow inventory de-stocking particularly posing significant concerns for the company.
However, Celanese expects to offset these headwinds with strong operating performance across all its segments, along with higher productivity gains. This led management to revise its adjusted earnings outlook for 2015 to a range of $5.60–$5.90 per share, up from the prior projection.
Celanese currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Better-ranked stocks in the diversified chemical space include LyondellBasell Industries N.V. LYB, Trecora Resources TREC and Orion Engineered Carbons SA OEC. All three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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