February 12, 2021

Lyondell Raises Glycol Prices

February 12, 2021
Subject: Lyondell Chemical Company; Propylene Glycol Price Increase

Dear Valued Customer,

Effective March 1, 2021 or as contracts allow, Lyondell Chemical Company (“Lyondell”) is increasing off list prices for all grades of Propylene Glycol in North America and South America per the following:

Propylene Glycol Industrial Grade (PGI) $0.20/lb
Propylene Glycol USP/EP Grade (PG USP/EP) $0.20/lb
Di-Propylene Glycol Industrial Grade (DPGI) $0.22/lb
Di-Propylene Glycol Fragrance Grade (DPGF) $0.22/lb
Tri-Propylene Glycol (TPG) $0.24/lb
Tri-Propylene Glycol Acrylate Grade (TPGA) $0.24/lb

This price increase is in addition to the previous price increase of $0.04/lb for all Propylene Glycol grades, effective February 15, 2021, announced by Lyondell.

Our acceptance of orders submitted prior to the increase date will be subject to our ability to supply. We appreciate the confidence you have placed in us as a supplier, and we look forward to our continuing business relationship. As always, your account manager is available to work
with you or answer any questions you may have.

February 12, 2021

Why Mattress And Furniture Retailers Made Presidents’ Day A Big Day

Presidential Level Savings: Why Mattress And Furniture Retailers Made Presidents’ Day A Big Day

By John ShumwayFebruary 11, 2021 at 7:22 am

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The coming weekend is big, really big, king-size big, queen size, double size big, and twin size,

“IT’S THE PRESIDENT’S DAY MATTRESS SALE WEEKEND!!”

Say what?

Come on you have to have wondered what do presidents have to do with mattresses? (Other than you need a lot of dead presidents, and a Ben Franklin or two, to buy a new mattress.)

Well, it turns out the industry has a good explanation according to Robert Levin, of Levin Furniture.

“Years ago, August and February, were furniture months,” he explained. “For some reason, Presidents’ Day has become the hottest most important time to buy a mattress. The vendors are giving the biggest discounts, the retailers are promoting like crazy.”

The industry-focused on the slowest time of the year to give a spark to sales and Levin says they are offering some high-tech Apple incentives.

“Home Pod, an Apple 4K TV, the Apple Watch, and Apple earbuds with the charging case,” he said.

I guess you could argue you can use all those things in bed…makes more sense than a bank handing out toasters.

Levin says despite a potentially obvious connection, there is no relationship between President’s Day sales and Valentine’s Day.

“Well, that might be in the eye of the mattress beholder,” he added with a nod.

Mattresses are not exactly like the need to buy groceries, I mean how often do you need a new mattress?

“About every seven to eight years,” says Dr. Matt Flanagan who practices sports medicine and is a primary care doctor with Allegheny Health Network out of Canonsburg.

Dr. Flanagan says there is a direct connection between your mattress and your health.

“Overall sleep health is very critical to one’s overall health when it comes down to it,” Dr. Flanagan said.

So he says if you are sleeping on a lousy mattress…“there’s going to be multiple health repercussions from that. It can delay you in recovering from physical injury. It can lead to physical injury, leading to chronic neck and back problems even lead to chronic headaches and migraines.”

Firm or soft, that’s up to you but when your mattress is no longer recovering from the dent you make overnight it might be an indication for a change.

As for flipping your mattress…

“Probably 95% of the mattresses sold out in the United States are no flip mattresses, so you don’t need to do it,” Levin said.

If you have an older mattress rotating and flipping your mattress every six months may help.

By the way, the pandemic has been good for the furniture industry.

Levin says people aren’t traveling so they have money to spend on the homes where they have been forced to spend a lot of time.

“We felt that the pandemic would be a period where we would go into, you know some kind of recession and it would reduce demand,” he said.

Instead, the opposite has happened.

However, he says furniture manufacturers have been impacted so customers are having to wait longer for their deliveries.

Oh, and if you miss the President’s Day sales, don’t worry because before you know it Levin says there will be…

“Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Black Friday is a big day, and the New Year’s event is a big event.”

February 12, 2021

Why Mattress And Furniture Retailers Made Presidents’ Day A Big Day

Presidential Level Savings: Why Mattress And Furniture Retailers Made Presidents’ Day A Big Day

By John ShumwayFebruary 11, 2021 at 7:22 am

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The coming weekend is big, really big, king-size big, queen size, double size big, and twin size,

“IT’S THE PRESIDENT’S DAY MATTRESS SALE WEEKEND!!”

Say what?

Come on you have to have wondered what do presidents have to do with mattresses? (Other than you need a lot of dead presidents, and a Ben Franklin or two, to buy a new mattress.)

Well, it turns out the industry has a good explanation according to Robert Levin, of Levin Furniture.

“Years ago, August and February, were furniture months,” he explained. “For some reason, Presidents’ Day has become the hottest most important time to buy a mattress. The vendors are giving the biggest discounts, the retailers are promoting like crazy.”

The industry-focused on the slowest time of the year to give a spark to sales and Levin says they are offering some high-tech Apple incentives.

“Home Pod, an Apple 4K TV, the Apple Watch, and Apple earbuds with the charging case,” he said.

I guess you could argue you can use all those things in bed…makes more sense than a bank handing out toasters.

Levin says despite a potentially obvious connection, there is no relationship between President’s Day sales and Valentine’s Day.

“Well, that might be in the eye of the mattress beholder,” he added with a nod.

Mattresses are not exactly like the need to buy groceries, I mean how often do you need a new mattress?

“About every seven to eight years,” says Dr. Matt Flanagan who practices sports medicine and is a primary care doctor with Allegheny Health Network out of Canonsburg.

Dr. Flanagan says there is a direct connection between your mattress and your health.

“Overall sleep health is very critical to one’s overall health when it comes down to it,” Dr. Flanagan said.

So he says if you are sleeping on a lousy mattress…“there’s going to be multiple health repercussions from that. It can delay you in recovering from physical injury. It can lead to physical injury, leading to chronic neck and back problems even lead to chronic headaches and migraines.”

Firm or soft, that’s up to you but when your mattress is no longer recovering from the dent you make overnight it might be an indication for a change.

As for flipping your mattress…

“Probably 95% of the mattresses sold out in the United States are no flip mattresses, so you don’t need to do it,” Levin said.

If you have an older mattress rotating and flipping your mattress every six months may help.

By the way, the pandemic has been good for the furniture industry.

Levin says people aren’t traveling so they have money to spend on the homes where they have been forced to spend a lot of time.

“We felt that the pandemic would be a period where we would go into, you know some kind of recession and it would reduce demand,” he said.

Instead, the opposite has happened.

However, he says furniture manufacturers have been impacted so customers are having to wait longer for their deliveries.

Oh, and if you miss the President’s Day sales, don’t worry because before you know it Levin says there will be…

“Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Black Friday is a big day, and the New Year’s event is a big event.”

February 12, 2021

Huntsman Posts Solid Quarter

Huntsman Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2020 Earnings; Strong Recovery with Solid Cash Flow

Download as PDF February 12, 2021 6:00am EST

THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Feb. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ —

Fourth Quarter Highlights

• Fourth quarter 2020 net income of $360 million compared to net income of $308 million in the prior year period; fourth quarter 2020 diluted earnings per share of $1.54 compared to diluted earnings per share of $1.34 in the prior year period.
• Fourth quarter 2020 adjusted net income of $113 million compared to adjusted net income of $65 million in the prior year period; fourth quarter 2020 adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.51 compared to adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.29 in the prior year period.
• Fourth quarter 2020 adjusted EBITDA of $240 million compared to adjusted EBITDA of $182 million in the prior year period.
• Fourth quarter 2020 net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations was $167 million. Free cash flow from continuing operations was $88 million for the fourth quarter 2020 and adjusted free cash flow from continuing operations was $157 million.
• Balance sheet remains strong with a net leverage of 0.8x and total liquidity is approximately $3 billion. On January 15, 2021 we redeemed in full €445 million (approximately $541 million) in aggregate principle amount of our 5.125% Senior notes due 2021 at par from available cash.
• Completed the sale of Venator Materials PLC ordinary shares to funds advised by SK Capital on December 23, 2020. Together with estimated cash tax savings of approximately $150 million, which this transaction facilitated, secured an aggregate total cash benefit of approximately $250 million.
• Announced the acquisition of Gabriel Performance Products within our Advanced Materials segment for $250 million on December 7, 2020, which was completed on January 15, 2021.
• In our Company wide optimization efforts, we are now targeting annualized savings and acquisition integration synergies in excess of $120 million, to be achieved by mid-2023. $27 million of targeted annualized savings achieved in 2020.

Peter R. Huntsman, Chairman, President and CEO, commented:

“In the midst of a very challenging 2020, our commitment was to emerge stronger and better.  I am very pleased to report that we were able to exceed our expectations. Our fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA significantly exceeded our fourth quarter of a year ago, even despite a lagging recovery in Aerospace.  We also delivered a solid fourth quarter and full year free cash flow, beyond what we anticipated. We had added three highly complementary, differentiated businesses to our core portfolio, and are on track to deliver on over $40 million of annualized related synergies. Together with our cost realignment and business optimization plans, we target in excess of $120 million of annualized benefits by mid-2023.  Our balance sheet remains very strong.  While we are prepared for macro uncertainties to continue in 2021, we see steady improvements over 2020 in most of our core markets and we remain totally committed to creating value for our shareholders.”   

Segment Analysis for 4Q20 Compared to 4Q19

Polyurethanes

The increase in revenues in our Polyurethanes segment for the three months ended December 31, 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 was primarily due to higher MDI average selling prices, partially offset by lower sales volumes.  Both differentiated and component MDI average selling prices increased primarily in China and Europe.  MDI sales volumes decreased primarily due to unplanned supplier outages.  The increase in segment adjusted EBITDA was primarily due to higher MDI margins driven by higher MDI pricing, partially offset by lower MDI sales volumes. 

Advanced Materials

The decrease in revenues in our Advanced Materials segment for the three months ended December 31, 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 was primarily due to lower sales volumes, predominantly due to weakness in our aerospace and commodity markets. Sales volumes decreased across most markets primarily due to economic slowdown and customer destocking. Segment adjusted EBITDA decreased due to lower sales volumes, partially offset by lower fixed costs.  The adjusted EBITDA contribution from our recent acquisition of CVC Thermoset Specialties was offset by the lost adjusted EBITDA from the divestiture of our India-based DIY consumer adhesives business.   

https://www.huntsman.com/news/media-releases/detail/469/huntsman-announces-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2020

February 12, 2021

Huntsman Posts Solid Quarter

Huntsman Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2020 Earnings; Strong Recovery with Solid Cash Flow

Download as PDF February 12, 2021 6:00am EST

THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Feb. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ —

Fourth Quarter Highlights

• Fourth quarter 2020 net income of $360 million compared to net income of $308 million in the prior year period; fourth quarter 2020 diluted earnings per share of $1.54 compared to diluted earnings per share of $1.34 in the prior year period.
• Fourth quarter 2020 adjusted net income of $113 million compared to adjusted net income of $65 million in the prior year period; fourth quarter 2020 adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.51 compared to adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.29 in the prior year period.
• Fourth quarter 2020 adjusted EBITDA of $240 million compared to adjusted EBITDA of $182 million in the prior year period.
• Fourth quarter 2020 net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations was $167 million. Free cash flow from continuing operations was $88 million for the fourth quarter 2020 and adjusted free cash flow from continuing operations was $157 million.
• Balance sheet remains strong with a net leverage of 0.8x and total liquidity is approximately $3 billion. On January 15, 2021 we redeemed in full €445 million (approximately $541 million) in aggregate principle amount of our 5.125% Senior notes due 2021 at par from available cash.
• Completed the sale of Venator Materials PLC ordinary shares to funds advised by SK Capital on December 23, 2020. Together with estimated cash tax savings of approximately $150 million, which this transaction facilitated, secured an aggregate total cash benefit of approximately $250 million.
• Announced the acquisition of Gabriel Performance Products within our Advanced Materials segment for $250 million on December 7, 2020, which was completed on January 15, 2021.
• In our Company wide optimization efforts, we are now targeting annualized savings and acquisition integration synergies in excess of $120 million, to be achieved by mid-2023. $27 million of targeted annualized savings achieved in 2020.

Peter R. Huntsman, Chairman, President and CEO, commented:

“In the midst of a very challenging 2020, our commitment was to emerge stronger and better.  I am very pleased to report that we were able to exceed our expectations. Our fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA significantly exceeded our fourth quarter of a year ago, even despite a lagging recovery in Aerospace.  We also delivered a solid fourth quarter and full year free cash flow, beyond what we anticipated. We had added three highly complementary, differentiated businesses to our core portfolio, and are on track to deliver on over $40 million of annualized related synergies. Together with our cost realignment and business optimization plans, we target in excess of $120 million of annualized benefits by mid-2023.  Our balance sheet remains very strong.  While we are prepared for macro uncertainties to continue in 2021, we see steady improvements over 2020 in most of our core markets and we remain totally committed to creating value for our shareholders.”   

Segment Analysis for 4Q20 Compared to 4Q19

Polyurethanes

The increase in revenues in our Polyurethanes segment for the three months ended December 31, 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 was primarily due to higher MDI average selling prices, partially offset by lower sales volumes.  Both differentiated and component MDI average selling prices increased primarily in China and Europe.  MDI sales volumes decreased primarily due to unplanned supplier outages.  The increase in segment adjusted EBITDA was primarily due to higher MDI margins driven by higher MDI pricing, partially offset by lower MDI sales volumes. 

Advanced Materials

The decrease in revenues in our Advanced Materials segment for the three months ended December 31, 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 was primarily due to lower sales volumes, predominantly due to weakness in our aerospace and commodity markets. Sales volumes decreased across most markets primarily due to economic slowdown and customer destocking. Segment adjusted EBITDA decreased due to lower sales volumes, partially offset by lower fixed costs.  The adjusted EBITDA contribution from our recent acquisition of CVC Thermoset Specialties was offset by the lost adjusted EBITDA from the divestiture of our India-based DIY consumer adhesives business.   

https://www.huntsman.com/news/media-releases/detail/469/huntsman-announces-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2020