The Chief Financial Officer of Dow said on March 16 that the company is recovering from the effects of severe winter storms and freezing. It is expected that by the end of March, the operating rate of the cracker in Texas will increase to 80%. Fully resumed production at the end of April.
The net impact of winter blizzards on Dow Chemical’s financial report is expected to be positive. The increase in profit margins due to strong demand is sufficient to make up for the loss of sales. Howard Ungerleider, Dow’s Chief Financial Officer, said: “Although the shutdown, repairs and resumption of production will indeed increase our costs, the current strong market demand will increase the profit margins that will bring us to the first quarter. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by US$50 million to US$100 million over the estimated value. The situation in the second quarter should be better, compared with generally expected EBITDA, an increase of at least US$300 million to US$400 million. Looking ahead to the second quarter, we expect strong supply and demand fundamentals to continue as we see backlogs in most value chains, pent-up demand and low inventories."
Source: Mobile Public Account
