Dive Brief:
- The Chemours Co. saw a slight drop in its 2024 fourth quarter sales, down 1% to $1.4 billion over the previous year due in part to price declines, according to the company’s latest earnings report.
- The chemical maker posted an $8 million loss in Q4, a 55% improvement compared to last year’s $18 million loss, as a result of company-wide, cost-saving strategies, with a focus on the titanium technologies segment.
- Chemours’ full-year net income jumped to $86 million, compared to a $238 million net loss in 2023, due to costs related to a $1.2 billion class action lawsuit settlement over PFAS contamination that was finalized last February.
Dive Insight:
Despite a decrease in sales, Chemours had a strong performance in Q4 as a result of its corporate growth strategy, which the company implemented in November 2024, President and CEO Denise Dignam said on the Feb. 18 earnings call.
The strategy aims to build the company’s titanium technologies, thermal and specialized solutions and advanced performance materials segments by focusing on four pillars: operational excellence, enabling growth, portfolio management and “strengthening the long term.”
The overall cost-savings plan includes slashing an additional $125 million under another corporate blueprint, the Titanium Technologies Transformation Plan, initially announced in October 2023.
“Of our total $250 million cost target, we remain on track to deliver half of these run rate cost savings by the end of 2025,” Dignam said. “As we progress further into the year, we'll look to provide regular updates on those savings, which remain focused on optimizing our asset footprint and reducing overhead cost.”
Chemours is also working with suppliers to strengthen its segmented businesses. In December 2024, Chemours supplier PCC SE announced plans to build and operate a chlorine and downstream chemical plant in Pass Christian, Mississippi. Chemours also established another chlor-alkali production facility ran by a third party and co-located at Chemours’ New Johnsonville, Tennessee, site, according to a securities filing.
The planned facility and supply deal will allow Chemours to gain increased supply reliability through on-site chlorine at the chemical titan’s titanium dioxide plant, Dignam said in a December press release. The chlor-alkali facilities will ensure a domestic supply of titanium dioxide, Dignam said on the call. The facilities reduce the company’s need to transport chlorine, according to the filing.
The chemical company is also prioritizing expansion in spaces focused on data center cooling, refrigerants, semiconductor fabrication and electric vehicle batteries, while shedding de-prioritized segments. The company embarked on a plan to exit the surface protection solutions business in January, and it expects related production to cease by the end of Q2, Dignam said.
